Lifes Choices A bleach story
by sportstar07
Summary: What would happen if when Ichigo returns from Hueco Mundo his sisters are kidnapped as a distraction for Aizens escape. Only one decides to help him, how will this change their lives completely from that moment on. Rated M for future chapters
1. Chapter 1

**What would happen if after Ichigo came back from hueco mundo, one of the espada had kidnapped Ichigo's sisters to distract him while Aizen made his escape from the other captains. Only one other decided to help him at the time how would this decision change their lives completely from that moment on.**

**I don't own bleach or any of its characters only any additional characters that I may create for this fic. **

**My very first fanfic so bear with me cheers. **

* * *

This story starts off pretty fast paced but will settle down a little later on I promise

Ichigo was running as fast as he could through the never ending blackness that was the empty space between worlds with captain Unohana from the fourth squad following close behind him. She was doing something about his diminished reiatsu after all the fighting he had done back in hueco mundo, but he wasn't paying too much attention to that, he was focusing on getting back to the real world as quickly as possible so that he could help out the captains facing Aizen.

After a while of running he heard captain Unohana say "we are almost there now Ichigo, only a little bit further, are you ready to face Aizen?"

"Hell yea I have become so much stronger than the last time I faced him" he called over his shoulder with determination. "And this time ill make him have to use his dam swords abilities"

Captain Unohana thought over what he had said for a second then asked "do you mean he didn't use his sword in its released state when you last faced him?"

"Pretty much, the bastard managed to stop my blade with one finger then just took me out with one swing" Ichigo growled out as he thought about how he had been taken down so easily.

"Well then you really are one of the few people that could actually take down Aizen" she told him.

He looked back with a confused expression and quickly asked "whys that?"

"Because for Aizen's total hypnosis to take effect you have to at some point in your life have seen his zanpakto in its released form, so because he defeated you without releasing his zanpakto you are immune from his hypnosis abilities for now" she informed him with a serious tone

His constant frown depend "so what? He could just release his zanpakto as soon as he sees me there" he stated with a hint of frustration

"Yes he could but hopefully we can get a jump on him and take him out in one move, therefore not giving him the chance to" she explained

"yeah that makes sense, so basically I have one shot and if I blow it we are pretty much screwed?" he asked

"Well not totally, but yes I guess you could say that. It would be our greatest chance of eliminating him down the drain" she said in a sweet tone that didn't make him feel any better.

"heh no pressure then ae" he said sarcastically

"No you can do it Kurosaki just settle down and focus on your task at hand because we are coming out now" she said as they approached a tear in the darkness which they could see light and blue sky through.

Ichigo quickly got himself ready and went into his bankai form while prepared himself mentally for what was to come once he got to the other side. He knew exactly what attack to use to finish the job.

As they approached the tear they paused for a second to take a look at the situation and decide on their course of action.

Outside they noticed that everyone was fighting above the replacement model of karakura town. Ichigo saw Aizen and his two captains Ichimaru Gin and Tousen Kaname closest to them with their backs to them looking at all of the other battles. A little to the right he could see captain Hitsugaya in his bankai state with two of the vizard gang, facing off against what he assumed to be an espada, from looking at her hollow like bones covering certain parts of her body which made up for the minimal amount of clothing that she was wearing along with the bottom half of her face. The number three on her chest also helped to identify her as the third espada.

He could also see a couple of the lieutenants on the ground all being healed in a barrier of some sort. Still looking around he saw captain Soifon and her vice-captain standing 50 yards infront of Aizen and his group giving them a death glare, but what really shocked him was where her left arm was supposed to be there was a bandaged stump that ended just below her shoulder. This definitely put the situation into perspective if a captain of her abilities was in a state like that. He noticed that the vizards were not fairing so well either. And to the left he also saw another lazy looking espada facing off with two more captains.

In the distance just a little bit further back he saw the head captain Yamamoto along with Urahara Kisuke and Yoruichi Shihouin observing and analyzing the fighting. All of a sudden Yoruichi turned and noticed the very slight tear in the sky and caught Ichigo's eye, he gave her a slight nod and a wink as he pulled his hand across his face and a red and white mask appeared on his face releasing his vizard form. The corner of her lips curved into a slight smile as she saw what he was going to do and quickly informed the others.

All of the fighting all of a sudden came to a halt as Aizen called his espada to hold off for a second, causing all of the combatants to pause and watch to see what was going to happen as he began taunting and belittling the captains and vizards.

Ichigo saw this as the perfect oportunity to get him while he wasn't concentrating, and the enemies where all looking at the shinigami. He turned and nodded to captain Unohana who quickly opened up the garganta big enough for him to slip through, as he jumped out he pulled his sword back and began to gather a large amount of reiatsu around his blade as he started to say "Getsuga-"

* * *

As soon as Aizen had started clapping and ordered that he pull back slightly he instantly began to study his surroundings and kept an eye out just in case any of the filthy shinigami tried to make a move.

Coyote Starke was a tall man with a medium build and dark brown shoulder length hair and a jaw bone hanging around his neck. He wore a white jacket that had grey fur lining his puffy collar and the edges of the jacket that hung open and loose around his body. The jacket also had two black straps dangling around his back they were attached at the backs of his shoulders then draped down and attached to the jacket again just above each hip creating a loop. Under the jacket was a simple white shirt. He also had silver fur arm warmers that started above the wrist and went up just below the elbow along with a pair of similar style leg warmers that started at the ankle and ended just below his knees. While black jeans covered the rest of his legs. He also had a bored expression permanently plastered on his face.

But instead of a zanpakto he was wielding two black pistols each was rather large and block like and long and had silver lining along every one of its rounded edges. They looked like odd ornamental pistols that you wouldn't use for actual combat but rather use as a display pieces instead. You wouldn't expect it but these were in fact his partner lilianet in their collective released form

He usually came off as a lazy man who would rather lie around all day and do nothing other than talk to his young friend and partner lilianet, usually much to the dismay of his hyperactive friend who was quite the opposite of him. While he always enjoyed acting like that and would rather be doing that right now over this troublesome fighting, he was actually a very smart and loyal man who had a gift for analyzing opponents and was always good at planning ahead he also excelled in making strategies on the fly and would commit to completing a task once he began, how else would he have become the number one espada.

It was while he was doing his scanning he noticed a very slight jump of reiatsu that he would have missed if he hadn't been looking for it. But the thing that really caught his attention was that the person the reiatsu belonged to wasn't meant to be there at this moment, so when a small garganta opened and a head of orange hair shot out he reacted before the others even noticed.

"Behind you Aizen-sama!" he yelled just in time to give Aizen and the captains enough time to realize what was coming and flash step out of the way.

* * *

"Getsuga-"

"Behind you Aizen-sama"

"-Tensho"

Ichigo watched as the ex-captains made it out of the way in time because they were not in the direct line of fire. Aizen managed to escape the full brunt of the blast but was clipped on his right side, this in turn opened up a large gash along the back of his right shoulder and side and also left large burns down his arm and leg. Ichigo was slightly pleased with the result, he knew there would be some sort of barrier or defence around his back so he had put as much of his hollow reiatsu into his getsuga tensho almost making it into a cero just to make sure he got through

To say everyone was surprised would have been an understatement. For starters Ichigo had appeared out of nowhere through a garganta when he was meant to be stuck in hueco mundo. And on top of that he had managed to catch Aizen and the traitorous captains off guard and seriously injure Aizen.

But before Ichigo could follow through and finish the job the two captains snapped out of there shock and moved to intercept him. From the corner of his eye he saw something shoot towards him from his right side and shifted his body in mid step just in time to dodge Ichimaru's blade from impaling him through the side, although it still managed to slice across the front of his stomach. Luckily it wasn't too big of a cut but just as he was thinking this he had to bring Tensa zangetsu above his head to stop a downward slash from Tousen. He quickly gave Tousen's blade a shove causing him to stagger back slightly while bringing his left leg around quickly delivering a swift kick to ichimaru's side to put some space between him and the captains.

This seemed to snap all of the spectators out of there dazed state and they all took action at once. All of the shinigami saw this as there opportunity to hopefully finish Aizen off while he was injured. At the same time all of the espada along with the remainder of there fraccion began to rush to intercept and defend their leader. Thus beginning a large amount of fighting in a very small area. A second after the fighting had commenced Aizen snapped out of his shocked daze and focused again and began using his illusions to maneuver through the chaos to get to his number one espada who had held back when the shinigami he had been facing rushed to get Aizen

"Stark,….. this was…. Unexpected and a definite setback…. but we will have to go through…. with what we discussed" Aizen said between laboured breaths.

This was the first time Stark had ever seen or heard Aizen in any kind of stress or pain, to be honest it was slightly unsettling. He was used to aizen being calm and collected and always having an aura of power and authority. But now he looked surprised and on edge

They both looked around and could see that things were not going their way. The captains where quickly overpowering aizens arrancar forces and Tousen had broken off from his encounter with Ichigo and was doing his best to hold off the pressing shinigami forces in his new released state that Aizen had granted to him. While Ichigo was facing off against ichimaru.

Stark just nodded then turned and used sonido to appear a short distance from where Ichigo was trying to hold off the traitor Ichimaru, as the shinigami came at Aizen again. He took a moment to prepare for what he was going to do next then began to open a garganta. The two fighters saw this and paused to see what he was going to do. Stark waited until he had the gingers attention then slowly reached in and pulled a large bundle through the portal, but as soon as he had pulled his surprise out, he felt the shinigamis reiatsu skyrocket and could see the rage and hatred towards him burning in Ichigo's eyes through his mask.

In the back of his mind he noticed that he felt another reiatsu directed at him start to rise ominously as well but he just assumed it didn't matter they were in a battle field anyway. He just carried on looking at the vizard with his bored expression as he saw this was going to work out just as he had planned.

* * *

Yoruichi and Kisuke had quickly dealt with the arrancar that came there way and took a moment to analyze the situation they were in. Aizen was battling the captain-commander along with his two former students captain Ukitake and captain Kyoraku and was holding them off easily it seemed, although at the same time it seemed as if Aizen was beginning to struggle with his wounds all up his right side.

Looking around further Tousen was fighting against captain Kaumamaru and vice-captain Hisagi, the blind ex-captain was in some sort of disgusting bug like form that she assumed was some sort of arrancar resurrection form that he achieved. She also noticed captain hitsaguya and Soi fon facing off with the last espada and the recovering lieutenants confronting the last of the fraccion slowly overpowering them.

Finally she spotted Ichigo and ichimaru both in a position to attack but both watching something in the distance, when she followed their line of sight she immediately headed for Ichigo when she realized that they were looking at the number one espada and that Ichigo would be taking them both on by himself.

Sure she had confidence in the kid's abilities and his strength and determination, she remembered learning to believe in him when she was helping him to reach bankai, but in her opinion he still wasn't quite that good. Once kisuke saw where she was headed he was following close behind her, but both of them gasped when the espada reached into a garganta and pulled something out.

Yoruichi began to tremble with anger just thinking about how someone could stoop so low. Actually she thought tactically this was a very useful and effective method but because of her morals it was just too much. She normally didn't get worked up easily but this just rubbed her the wrong way and she picked up the pace going as fast as she could to help out.

* * *

Ichigo's body froze when he saw what the espada had pulled out of the portal. In his hand he was holding a rope that was attached to two girls gagged and bound back to back. They were both unconscious and slumped over but he could tell by the hair colour who they where exactly. They were both about the same height one had short shoulder length black hair and the other had even shorter sandy brown hair. He didn't even need to see their faces to know who they were. They seemed to be alright but that wasn't the point

When he realized that the bastard had his two younger sisters his blood began to boil and he started to see red. Reiatsu began to pulse around him in a cloud of black with red around the edges as the air became heavy and thick in everyone's lungs from the anger that soaked the reiatsu.

He didn't care how the espada had got a hold of them because they wear meant to be in soul society, all that mattered to him at that moment was that he was going to get his sisters back then rip him apart, limb from limb and wipe that annoying bored expresion off his face.

All of a sudden there was a flash of purple and orange and ichimaru was sent rocketing to the ground, in his place now stood Yoruichi who just gave Stark an evil glare before turning to face Ichigo. They looked at each other for a few seconds before she spoke "you take that one while I deal with the other squinting bastard" she said as she pointed at the lazy espada.

He gave her a slight nod but just before she was about to take off he looked into her eyes

"Thank you" he said with a sincerity that couldn't be hidden by the echo of the hollow in his voice.

"No need for that just hurry up and go get your sisters back" she replied with a bit of a grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. He didn't need to be told twice because the next thing she knew he was gone and rushing at the bored looking arrancar.

She suddenly had to jump to the side as a sword came shooting up at her from below. Although she was known as the flash step goddess she noticed the threat to late and wasn't quite fast enough as the blade nicked her arm and ripped through the sleeve of her skin tight under shirt also leaving behind a deep cut across her forearm.

Then she heard the one responsible call out while he made his way back up to her level "ohhhhh dear, look at what you made me do now. I had rely hoped that you wouldn't get involved it would be such a shame to have to cut up that pretty body of yours" he said at the same time giving her that smile that always made her feel uncomfortable.

She looked at the cut on her arm it wasn't too bad it wouldn't cause any problems it would just be annoying more than anything.

"well you don't need to worry about that anymore because you won't be able to put even a scratch on me now that I am ready. And get ready for a whole new world of pain when I show you what we do with traitors" she said with disgust clear in her voice

"is that so, well we will see about that" he said with a big smirk plastered on his face as they stared each other down waiting for the other to make the first move.

* * *

Ichigo was really getting angry now, he hadn't even been able to get close to the bastard because he had summoned these misty wolf things that kept exploding every time one got near him. Even with his speed there were just to dam many to get past. Whenever he would get past a group another wolf would appear out of nowhere keeping him from getting close to his siblings. Even when he used 'getsuga tensho' more would instantly replace the ones destroyed.

What made things even worse was that he was being slowly driven further away from his goal and he couldn't do anything about it. He was focusing too much on trying to evade all of the wolfs to even start forming a plan to get close to his sisters without putting them in more danger. He shot under one wolf while quickly flash stepping to the side to avoid another one and noticed the one behind him heading straight for his back to late.

Just as he was getting ready for impact he heard "sing benihime" and a red beam went straight through it causing said wolf to explode before it could get close enough to do any real damage to him. Although he was still thrown forward a little bit from the explosion

As he recovered from the blast he noticed that the wolves had stopped their assault and regrouped to form a line in front of Ichigo's sisters while the espada paused to look at the new player in their game.

Ichigo already knew who it was but looked around anyway to find Urahara coming up behind him.

"Looks like you could use some assistance there Ichigo" he said in a cheerful tone

"Yeah thanks for that, that one got pretty close" he replied.

He sent another glare at the espada but noticed he wasn't even looking at them anymore but looking at something behind Ichigo with an intense look on his face as if he was waiting for something, Ichigo quickly thought that this must be serious for him to have an actual expression on his face.

This caught ichigos attention so he risked a glance back over his shoulder to see what was so interesting. He could see Yoruichi not far away having a staring battle with ichimaru. But a little further past them he saw the head captain and the others watching Aizen as he reached out and seemed to cut through the sky, opening a garganta that just kept expanding and created a huge black void in the sky. They all looked on in horror as dozens of menos grands started trying to pile out being attracted by all of the extremely high reiatsus everyone was giving off.

Aizen then flash stepped away slightly and opened another much smaller garganta he turned and nodded to stark as he started walking in to the opening while the captains where briefly distracted with all of the menos.

When ichimaru noticed the menos coming through into the real world he knew it was time to take his leave so he gave a small cheeky wave in the direction of the dark skinned female then flash stepped to aizens side along with the remaining espada (apart from stark) as they left the real world.

At the nod stark reached out and opened his own portal. Ichigo turned around just in time to see stark casually making his way in through the portal while holding his two younger sisters not even bothering to hide his escape.

* * *

While Yoruichi was staring down Ichimaru and noticed the menos through the corner of her eye she instantly tensed and prepared for the attack when the squinting prick waved at her then flash stepped. But was even more surprised when the attack didn't come and saw him disappear with Aizen and the remaining espada through their garganta. She was about to pursue him but turned around just in time to see the espada holding Ichigo's sisters walk through another slowly closing garganta and Ichigo taking off after him. Everything was happening so fast and she straight away could see that this was obviously a plan to get rid of Ichigo.

She quickly thought over her situation, she knew all of the captains could take care of the hollows, she knew that Aizen was long gone with no way to go after him, then she thought how Ichigo had followed the espada to who knows where with who knows how many reinforcements waiting. She almost instantly decided that she had to follow him to make sure his impulses didn't go and get himself killed.

As she was making her way to the closing portal she heard Kisuke yell out to her "hey Yoruichi catch" as he tossed her a small blue bracelet with a glowing red strip along the centre of it.

As she caught it he told her "hang on to that it might come in handy later on" "just trust me" he added as he saw the confused look on her face while he headed in the opposite direction to help out with the hollow problem here.

She just shrugged as she slipped on the flexible band he hadn't let her down yet so no reason to doubt him and carried on after their orange haired friend. When she finally went through the portal and came out on the other side she saw that they were in a lush green forest on a mountain side somewhere, and in the distance could see Ichigo bolting into the thick of it. She knew that in his vizard state and the head start he had she wouldn't be able to catch up to him but headed after him anyway and just hoped that he didn't do anything to stupid like get himself killed until she caught up.

* * *

**Well there you have it the first chapter of my first story il leave you with alittle bit of a cliff hanger, tell me what you think I am open for constructive criticism.**

**Please review**


	2. Chapter 2

Here we go folks! Chapter two this one is a lot more jam packed I promise this one pretty much sets the foundations for things to come later on

(persons perspective)

"**Hello" **someone who is spirit or inner voices e.g. Zangetsu or Ichigo's hollow

"Hello" normal speech

enjoy

**Chapter 2 Pain and desperation**

* * *

(Ichigo)

When Ichigo had come through into whatever spiritual plane that stark had brought him to, he was mildly surprised to see green trees and blue sky with the sun beginning to set in the distance, he had half expected to end up somewhere in hueco mundo. That thought instantly left his head when he looked around to see stark jumping up into a tree and then losing sight of him. He didn't even think twice about it he took off in the direction he had last seen the arrancar and started to follow the feint traces of his sister's reiatsus.

He was so focused on getting his sisters back, that as he jumped over a small bush into the depths of the forest he didn't even notice another very familiar presence slip through the portal just before it sealed itself again.

He was running as fast as he could but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't seem to get any closer to his target even with his extra speed from his bankai and hollow. Eventually he felt his sisters reiatsu stop not too far ahead he felt his grip tighten on zangetsu in anticipation for the upcoming encounter, he knew that this was probably some trap to get rid of him but he didn't care he wouldn't rest until his sisters where back home and away from danger.

As he jumped through yet another set of bushes he stopped as he found himself in a large clearing about the size of a football field, with a large cliff at one end and thick forest creating a sort of semi circle around it. The clearing had hardly any grass and was also littered with huge boulders the size of cars obviously from the cliff face up ahead, but while he was looking around he suddenly found his sisters still tied and out cold propped up against a boulder at the base of the cliff.

But what instantly put him on edge was the fact that he couldn't see or sense stark anywhere, it didn't help that he was hopeless at sensing spiritual presences except for a few very familiar ones like his family and close friends. But even so he thought he would be able to feel someone like an espada they were meant to have huge reiatsus.

"I don't like this but I have to get my sisters before I can start playing his games" he mumbled as he got ready to dash for the two girls. He took one more look around then shot off in his sister's direction.

Just as he was almost within arm's reach of his target he saw a bright blue light coming from a boulder to his left. His body acted out of instinct and flash stepped straight up to avoid the cero and watched it as it tore through a couple of boulders on its way past. When he felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck he flash stepped down just in time to avoid another cero aimed at his back. He kept dodging until he had been driven back from his sisters then it calmed again.

As he looked around he still couldn't find any traces of stark anywhere and he needed to find him quick but how was he going to do that when he couldn't sense him anywhere?

"are you going to come out and fight like a man or are you just going to keep hiding and keep taking cheap shots at me all day" he bellowed in no real direction as he kept sweeping the area trying to find any traces of his opponent.

"Now now, I know all about your skills and abilities as a close range fighter. While I for one much prefer medium to long range fighting. And since I would rather not have to over exert myself to fight you up close, why would I do something foolish and give up my advantage?" he said with a very smug tone in his voice.

Another cero came from his right and he dodged accordingly. He still couldn't pin point where the voice was coming from as it seemed to echo off of the cliff face and throughout the boulders.

He tried to make another dash for his sisters but was intercepted by another wolf that exploded and threw him back into another boulder. He knew he was going to have to beat this guy at his own game before he could help his sisters but had no idea how he was going to do that.

He needed to stall while he thought up a way to even the odds. "what do my sisters have to do with any of this, if you want to fight me here I am but leave my sisters out of this" he said as he started to get more agitated as more cero would keep coming at him from different directions each time forcing him to keep moving.

It was like playing hide and seek but with much higher stakes, he kept darting from boulder to boulder just trying to stay out of sight.

"Well they have served their initial purpose already" stark yelled out tauntingly.

"And what was that" Ichigo replied getting angry again

"Don't you see it was you" the voice said with a bit of a chuckle

"Huh" Ichigo grunted as he didn't get what he was implying

"my you're not really using that brain of yours, it's almost to troublesome to explain, but I'm feel generous today so ill help you out" he said "Aizen has been keeping an eye on you, watching you develop your abilities. But he wasn't fully expecting you to make an appearance so soon today but thought due to your impressive growth over the last few months he should be prepared for something like this. So before we left I was sent to find a certain pair of humans and bring them along just in case. As you can see I was chosen because of my stealth and abilities to mask my presence almost completely. But aside from that he knew you would cause problems if you became involved at this point in time before you were needed".

This last bit confused Ichigo even more "what the hell are you talking about, I wouldn't do anything for that prick" he shouted back

"Well not at the moment but that is beside the point. What I was trying to say is that because the others in Las noches obviously failed and you arrived early and managed to catch him of guard he knew you where past a certain point. See Aizen-sama sees potential in you for some reason and he would like to have someone with your qualities and abilities on his side. So you needed to be separated and captured quietly so that we could begin the next part of his plan. We were going to do this when we got back to Hueco Mundo but you know the situation. So I needed to draw you out so that I could get you alone and make sure there were no complications during your detainment and this is where your young sisters come into the picture" he said with that indifferent tone of his

Ichigo tensed as he realized what he was implying they were going to use his sisters as leverage against him, they were going to use them against him so that he would come quietly and become one of their filthy tools. And who knows what horrors they would be subjected to just to get him to cooperate. His blood began to boil even more as those thoughts rushed through his head. 'NO!' he wouldn't let that happen, he wouldn't let anybody threaten his sisters and live to tell the tale. As he realized the danger his young siblings where really in his mind seem to clear and he knew what he needed to do at that moment.

* * *

(Yoruichi)

Yoruichi arrived at the edge of the clearing just as stark began to speak she was definitely shocked at what she was hearing, just the thought of Aizen using Ichigo for his plans made her cringe a little bit. She also became curious as to how he would use him exactly because she knew Ichigo would rather die than help him with anything. But at the same time would do anything to keep his sisters safe

She stopped thinking about that as she saw Ichigo darting around trying to avoid all of the ceros and exploding wolves that kept appearing from every direction. She almost couldn't detect the espada at all but being an expert at stealth herself managed to find a very faint trace of him. He was using his masking ability and his sonido continuously and very well to keep Ichigo clueless as to where he was.

While she was watching how the fight was going to play out she spotted the two little girls she knew to be Ichigo's sisters propped up against a rock at the base of the cliff and was thinking how she was going to get to them when her attention was brought back to Ichigo. He had been shaking and releasing so much reiatsu in anger as the espada had been talking but then the reiatsu and tension abruptly spiked then stopped, and he seemed to be concentrating on something. His whole body seemed to relax ever so slightly his stance widened as he planted his feet just a bit more than shoulder width apart with a slight bend at the knees, as he prepared for something his breathing started to slow to a calm steady pace. She saw a black energy begin to surround zangetsu as he held him out in front in a ready stance, then as soon as a cero was fired from a boulder behind and to the right he released a getsuga tensho in a quick and controlled horizontal slash in the direction it came from.

Stark obviously wasn't expecting such a quick reaction because he was taken by surprise as his cero was ripped apart and he was thrown into another boulder due to the resulting explosion. Yoruichi saw this as her chance and shunpoed towards the hostages.

* * *

(Ichigo)

Once Ichigo had caught site of stark flying into another boulder and finally evened the playing fields again he adjusted his grip on zangetsu and charged at full pace towards the espada as not to give him a chance to hide again.

As he was approaching, stark holstered his pistols and summoned a plain looking zanpakto with a bright yellow handle and guard along with a group of wolves as he stood up. But Ichigo had covered the distance in a few seconds and already clashed blades before the wolves had a chance to get in the way.

They began a quick exchange of blows neither getting the advantage. Ichigo used his superior speed to dart around stark trying to find an opening while stark used sonido to parry and evade most of the shiniganis strikes. They were caught in a brutal dance that consisted of dodge, parry, counter, strike, dodge and this process repeated over and over.

Ichigo was trying to keep as close as he could to stark with his attacks so that his wolves couldn't get a chance to drive him back without damaging the owner at the same time.

They locked blades again and Ichigo glared at the espada who finally looked like he was going to take things seriously, but Ichigo was momentarily distracted when he saw a familiar blur of orange and purple moving past them towards his sisters. As he saw the blur he knew exactly who it was and his heart lifted slightly knowing that she was here to help him protect his family when she could have easily stayed back with everyone else. But she had come after him to help but as these thoughts rushed through his mind his eyes lost their focus for only a split second but it was a split second to long.

Stark saw the moment of distraction in Ichigo's eyes and used this moment to his advantage and gave Ichigo's blade a quick shove then spun his body around delivering a sweeping kick knocking Ichigo's legs out from under him sending the teen to the ground allowing him to put some distance between the two as the young shinigami shot back to his feet instantly. As soon as there was enough space the wolves where on Ichigo again.

Stark then also noticed the orange blur darting between the boulders heading for his two prisoners he couldn't have anyone interfering here, while summoning more wolves he used sonido to intercept.

* * *

(Yoruichi)

Yoruichi was definitely surprised when she stepped around the last boulder between her and the kurosaki girls and came face to face with the man that Ichigo had been fighting a second ago. She hadn't been captain of the second squad and known as the goddess of flash for no reason. Yet he had found and intercepted her so quickly she had to quickly rethink her strategy. He also now had two wolves on each side of him that where about two and a half feet tall and made of reiatsu which gave them a cloudy blue appearance.

She quickly jumped back putting some distance between the two of them as she looked around to see how he had gotten away from Ichigo. Then she saw those dam wolves again and could guess what had happened.

"I thought I felt some reiatsu flickering just outside of the clearing not much but it was still there. Well done you must be very talented in the field of stealth to be able to hide yourself from me" he said in a rather casual tone.

She just continued to stare at him trying to piece together what she was going to do now, but her thoughts were interrupted as he continued to speak.

"I cannot allow you to go any further, but I will allow you to turn around and go unharmed if you leave now and do not interfere here. You have already complicated things enough and for that I should end you but I am going to be kind and give you the choice. So what will it be missy?" he added with a questioning look.

She thought it was obvious. "Well sorry for the inconvenience but unfortunately for you I can't do that. You have two people that I cannot leave here without so we are in a pickle aren't we" she said as she slipped into her fighting stance prepared for the battle.

"Ohhhhhh boy" he sighed "I guess it can't be helped then"

As he finished his body began to shimmer then Yoruichi turned to her right to find a pistol pointed at her face. She instantly ducked and shunpoed behind him bringing her leg around aiming a kick at his exposed side. But just as she was sure she was going to connect he seemed to shimmer forward a few feet in an instant and she noticed another blue light forming under his outstretched arm.

She jumped up and pointed her palm towards stark "Hado 33 sokatsui" she cried as blue lightning gathered in her palm and shot at the espada with blinding speed. As she landed and looked to see if she had made contact through the cloud of dust that had been thrown up from the explosion, she had to jump to the side as another cero zipped buy her left side. She quickly spun around to find him standing a few yards behind her with a slight tear in his pant leg above his thigh.

"Impressive to be able to use a kido with such force while only stating the name" he said calmly as if he didn't even notice his close call.

It was true that kido was much weaker without the incantation but she had become quite proficient in the use of kido since she trained tirelessly to improve her skills because she didn't use a zanpakto and needed something to supplement her hand to hand combat.

She just gave him another smirk and charged at him again, when she got close she unleashed her hand to hand fighting style on him. She was using her speed and flexibility to her advantage, all of his movements seemed stiff and lacked any kind of flow compared to her. She almost looked like a dancer with the rhythm and grace that she was moving around with. It made you want to pause and admire the finesse the goddess was showing. She would attack and he would block or evade and she would use her momentum to immediately move into another deadly strike while throwing kido in every now and again just to mix things up a bit.

She was in the air now about to deliver a spin kick to his head when he reached up and grabbed her right ankle stopping the hit. She used the momentum and her flexibility to twist her body and bring her other leg around also aiming at his head causing him to block also at the same time releasing her leg. She managed to push off him as he released her and twist her body again in the air so that she landed on all fours, but as soon as she came in contact with the ground she was rocketing towards him again and landed two powerful punches to his chest before he could react causing him to stagger back slightly while he tried to force air back into his lungs.

She took a moment to stare at her opponent he was looking a little worse for wear his jacket was torn across his chest and down his back from more close calls with kido. He also had a few puffy spots on his face that would swell up nicely later on thanks to a few reiatsu infused hits along with a few that weren't quite visible due to his cloths. But she hadn't quite gotten of scott free either, her arms were feeling quite tender from blocking a few of his outrageously powerful hits. Also her hands and legs were beginning to ache from sticking his rock hard skin. She knew she would pay for it later on.

Yoruichi had been keeping as much pressure as she could on him not allowing him space to fire off to many more of those ceros and also keeping him from summoning his wolves to get in the way. But he had still managed to fire a few ceros which had come way to close for comfort, she had a few burns on her left shoulder were a cero had gotten particularly close and just nicked her burning away the material and leaving a nasty red mark in its place. Her pant legs were also singed in a few places from other close calls.

The dark skinned goddess eyed her opponent and knew that she had to step it up a notch if she actually wanted to win. Yes she had been the one dominating the skirmish so far but to put it bluntly she wasn't physically strong enough to actually do any real damage to him. At this rate he would be battered and bruised but it wouldn't stop him. She knew she was going to have to release her shunko but was a little weary due to the close proximity to the hostages and the explosive power that came with shunko.

She was just beginning to gather reiatsu at her shoulders when the air became thick and heavy, suddenly it was hard to breath as a disturbing and twisted wave of reiatsu smacked into her and started to beat down against her body trying to force her to her knees. She managed to push herself up against the foreboding force to see where it was coming from. She was surprised to see that it wasn't coming from stark as his body was also slightly rigid from bracing himself against the force. She also noticed that he was looking in what she assumed was Ichigo's direction with a slight scowl.

Yoruichi was about to look around when the clearing was rocked with a chain reaction of massive explosions which caused a few loose rocks to fall from the cliff side and the overwhelming reiatsu to ease up a little, just enough that she didn't have to strain so much against its weight. She thought it was stark again but he still hadn't moved, but as she was looking around again to find the source she saw a shimmer around stark from the corner of her eye and before she could react there was a blinding pain followed by warm sensation flowing down her right leg. She looked down to see a long cut all the way up the length of her thigh which was pouring out with blood. She looked up again just in time to see stark bringing his blade around to cut her again, through pure adrenaline she was able to use her other leg to hop backwards dodging the main strike but still receiving another cut along her stomach.

Before she could react again she felt a boot connect with her chest with tremendous force sending her flying back to roll across the ground and come to a halt just a few yards from the two sisters.

Her entire body was screaming at her as she tried to get back up, but her head kept spinning and her vision kept fading in and out of focus from all of the blood lost. She couldn't even get up on her hands and knees, but when she saw how close she was to the girls she forced herself to move. She heard the sound of clashing blades and knew she wasn't in immediate danger from the espada. Her body was still screaming in protest as she moved inch by inch dragging herself across the ground through sheer will power. Her body was telling her to give up and rest but no matter how nice she knew that would feel right now she kept going.

Finally she made it she didn't really know what she was going to do now but knew she had to do something to help while stark wasn't looking. She painfully lifted herself up onto her knees using all of her will to sit up although her shoulders where slumped over and it took all of her concentration just to keep herself from falling forward onto her target. As she slowly began to untie the knots binding the girls she saw that they were both slowly stirring but she kept going making sure she got this done first.

As the girl with the sandy brown hair began looking around franticly trying to figure out what was going on she turned and looked straight at Yoruichi with a questioning look. The dark skinned woman gave her a slight smile to try and keep her calm as she knew the young girl was probably confused and possibly scarred at the moment.

The young girl gave her a small smile in response as she realized that she was there to help out. But she suddenly gasped as her eyes took in the appearance of her saviour and saw the state that Yoruichi was in, her purple bangs where stuck to her forehead and to the sides of her face with sweat, her eyelids where drooping slightly from exhaustion which were half covering her piercing golden eyes, her shoulders where slumped over and she looked like she was going to keel over any second now. But her eyes widened even more as she saw the blood from the gashes across her stomach and along her thigh.

"You're hurt" she cried

"You don't need to worry about me, what's important is that we get you two out of here" Yoruichi replied trying to calm the girl down

But as soon as she finally got the last knot undone she couldn't keep herself upright anymore, knowing she had given the girls the means to at least run away so that Ichigo could fight without distraction she gave in to the heavy feeling of her body and fell over on her side. She didn't have the will to fight the pain and exhaustion that was consuming her body anymore so didn't even bother to try and get up or move at all. She was content with just lying there and resting peacefully until death claimed her.

* * *

(Yuzu)

As soon as the knots where loose Yuzu shook herself free of the restraints and made sure that Karin was alright she was coming to and was just beginning to take in her surroundings, as soon as she knew that her sister was alright she instantly hurried to the woman's side to help her. She had helped her father plenty of times in the clinic to know what needed to be done for now until they could get her to a hospital

She began to tear strips from the bottom of her shirt to use as bandages but was interrupted when Karin began to speak from behind her

"Oi Yuzu were the hell are we and what are we doing here?" she asked while looking around and trying to figure out where they were.

Yuzu would normally be the one asking the questions while she hid behind her bolder twin sister, but at this moment she wasn't focused on their surroundings she was focused on saving the woman that had freed them.

"I don't know Karin but help me out over here. This woman saved us so we have to help her"

Karin looked over Yuzu's shoulder and didn't ask any questions once she saw the state of the women lying in front of her sister. She quickly kneeled down and also began ripping strips of her shirt to use as bandages to slow the bleeding as much as possible.

The two girls quickly set to work trying to move her as little as possible and when needed trying to shift her around as gently as possible, wrapping the strips of fabric around the wounds pulling them tight and putting as much pressure as they could in an attempt to slow the blood.

"SHIT!" the woman cried out in clear agony as they tied the bandages off and put pressure on them.

"Sorry about that but it has to be done until we can get you to a hospital" Yuzu told the women apologetically.

The woman opened her eyes and gave both girls a strained smile

* * *

(Yoruichi)

Yoruichi was allowing the darkness to take over as her body became heavier and heavier. The pain was slowly subsiding as the darkness consumed her more and more. She felt her body being moved around and voices talking somewhere in the distance but she just didn't care anymore. She just wanted it to end already, she didn't really want to die but she wasn't afraid of it now that she was basically on its front door step. She was happy with the decisions she had made in her life, well most of them anyway but she didn't regret how her life had played out. Although she had expected to have someone to share it with and had hoped to finish it together with them but that was a minor detail.

Yoruichi was abruptly brought out of her thoughts and back to the world as a wave of excruciating pain swept through her and she let out a yell

"SHIT!"

"Sorry about that but it has to be done until we can get you to a hospital" she heard a small apologetic voice say from somewhere beside her.

She slowly opened her eyes to see both of the girls looking at her with concerned looks on their faces. She gave them a smile that took a lot of effort. She then lifted her head as much as she could to look down and see her leg and middle covered in bandages of sorts. She looked around at the girls again to see that their shirts where both torn exposing their midriffs.

"I guess I've got you girls to thank for patching me up" she said slowly as she tried to get up again

But she was quickly pushed back down by her shoulders as the dark haired girl quickly said with a commanding tone "Awww no you don't. You stay right there, we were only able to patch you up enough to slow the flow of blood so we can't have you moving around and starting the flow again. Besides I can feel Ichi-nii nearby and he will be able to get you to a hospital and away from this fighting safely so just stay put."

Yoruichi paused 'she can feel reiatsu?' she thought quietly to herself she would have to ask Ichigo about it sometime. Then she remembered where they were.

"No you don't understand you have to get away from here right now, it's not safe around here and your brother is worried sick about you. So you have to get away from here for his sake" she said franticly

But before they could even comprehend what she had just said to them a wave of sinister reiatsu rooted them in place and forced them all to the ground. She turned her head and her eyes went wide as saucers in absolute horror. She turned to see stark wiping the blood off of his blade on his sleeve while walking away from Ichigo and towards them.

But the part that terrified her the most was that Ichigo was on his knees, blood gushing from a hole in his chest. Then his mask shattered and more blood spilled out of his mouth just as he started to fall forward with a look of fear and sorrow on his face. While he was falling he seemed to look over both of his sisters but as his eyes locked with hers she saw anger, grief, anguish, sorrow and longing burning in his brown eyes as they began to dim. Then she watched him mouth the words "I'm sorry" as zangetsu slipped from his fingers and clattered on the ground beside him.

The purple haired woman heard a pair of gasps beside her as the two girls finally realised just who had been fighting and why they could feel their brother close by.

"I-Ichi-nii?...Ichi-nii?...No not ICHI-NII!... GET UP ICHIGO!" Yoruichi's heart broke as she heard the two girls's crying out for their big brother.

She watched in horror as he fell forward time seemed to slow down each second seemed like a hour as it hit her, she just couldn't believe it. How was it possible? You could always count on him to pull through and overcome the odds somehow but right now she couldn't see how he would pull through as his body fell to the ground with a muffled 'thud'.

"I-chi-go?" she muttered quietly as the gravity of the situation slowly sunk in.

* * *

_(Ichigo perspective of events)_

_(Flashback)_

Ichigo was fighting those stupid wolves again and he had to keep on his toes trying to keep some distance between him and the walking explosives. He had been dodging doing his best to avoid cutting the wolves out of instinct as much as possible with his 'getsuga tensho'. He had learned quickly that these wolves when cut the two cut halves would turn into two separate wolves and cause even more problems for him.

He had been dodging these things and trying to weed the numbers out slowly by getting them to explode in different ways. But they were starting to really irk him and he couldn't really do too much about it, this made it even more infuriating.

He had managed to slowly get rid of a majority of the stupid wolves when he laid eyes on Yoruichi battling the espada to get to his sisters. He wasn't completely sure why but when he saw her doing all of this to help him save his family he felt his heart lift and he had a warm feeling fill his chest.

But then he saw the state she was in and the burns that covered her body and his mood worsened again. She was getting hurt for the sake of his family and all because he wasn't strong enough to look after them himself. She didn't even know them yet she was here risking her life for them.

At that thought he had finally had enough with this whole thing, someone else getting hurt because of his inability to look after his family was the last straw. He just wanted this to end so that he could get his family and friend away from harms threatening grip.

With a roar he gathered his reiatsu in his core and kept building up the pressure until with another roar he released his reiatsu like a bomb. He was slightly surprised at how much he had gathered up but kept releasing more as a shockwave rocketed out from him in every direction. When it came in to contact with the wolves they all shuddered briefly from the pressure as it passed through them then exploded in a large chain of bone shattering explosions that rocked the entire clearing. When he saw that the wolves had been taken care of he eased up with the reiatsu slightly.

He looked around to see stark moving at Yoruichi and to his dismay he could see that she wasn't going to react in time to his strike. He looked on in horror as he saw blood spraying from Yoruichi's leg, at this he took off as fast as he could to stop him from hurting her more. But he wasn't fast enough he watched while his blood began to boil as the goddess of flash took another slash across her stomach and he started to see red as he watched stark deliver a devastating kick to her chest sending her rolling across the ground like a rag doll.

He didn't quite understand the emotions pumping through him at that moment, he chalked it up to just his protectiveness of his friends and family. But at the sight of her limp body rolling like that across the ground he knew one thing this man was going to regret hurting Yoruichi Shihoin dearly. He raised Tensa zangetsu above his head preparing for a overhead slash but stark turned around just in time to raise his own blade to block the strike.

They locked blades and locked gazes. Stark had a smirk on his face while Ichigo was staring at him with such venom that a lesser man would have broke down and started crying. But stark couldn't care less he was going to beat this brat into the ground and take the siblings to Aizen and be done with this troublesome mission.

"So you've decided to come out and play again ae" "did you not have fun with my little pets" stark said with a slight chuckle

"you are going to regret hurting and threatening the people close to me you bastard, I will make sure of it even if it is the last thing I ever do!" Ichigo spat back.

"If you say so" stark said off headedly "shall we begin then" he added as he gave Ichigo a shove

"Fine by me" Ichigo called out as he tightened his grip on 'tensa zangetsu'.

The two combatants just looked at the other for a while, waiting, until the other made their move

Stark getting tired of the pause reached down to grab a pistol but as soon as his arm made the movement Ichigo was gone. He spun around quickly and just bringing his blade around quick enough to stop the shinigami's upward slash. He grunted slightly at the force behind the blade even though Ichigo had only used one hand, he definitely didn't want to get hit with that power.

Ichigo grinned behind his mask as he saw the espada falter ever so slightly under his attack, he quickly used flash step again to get behind him again going for a horizontal slash at his mid section. Stark used sonido just in time to miss the blade, Stark was cutting it close with his evasions and couldn't let this drag on for too long because he could feel that the shinigami would be able to keep fighting at this pace for a much longer time then he could.

So when the vizard came again from his side with a downward slash he raised his blade on an angle and when the two swords met he gave Ichigo's blade a push as it slide down his own throwing the teen off balance and giving him a opening to strike. But Ichigo used the momentum to dive forward into a roll out of harm's way. The teen turned and was charging the espada immediately not giving him any time to think of a plan or to summon more wolves or draw his pistols.

This carried on for a few minutes, Ichigo would charge with a barrage of wild slashes while Stark dodged, parried or countered. At which point the shinigami would quickly evade and start his charge again. In some of the clashes they would sometimes throw in a punch or kick to mix it up and try to catch the other off guard. By now they both had a few cuts and bruises up their arms and legs along with a couple of cracked ribs on Starks part after Ichigo had brought his heel around with devastating force after a counter that the espada was expecting a blade to strike at him. It was safe to say that they were both a little worse for wear.

Ichigo went for a downward slash and when Stark lifted his blade on an angle to off balance him, he used the momentum to quickly spin on his front foot and bring his blade around and into a lung thrusting straight at Stark's stomach. But Stark brought his blade across his body with his arm at head height and his blade pointed down and swept Ichigo's blade to the side. He kept spinning and reversed his grip on his blade but when his back was to the shinigami instead of continuing around he brought his blade down to his side and thrust it back as hard as he could.

He grinned as he felt his blade make contact with flesh and bone

After Ichigo's blade had been swept away he was about to bring it around and over in a wide arch for another strike, he had both hands on his blade above his head ready for a downward slash but was totally taken by surprise and could do nothing to evade when he saw the blade coming for him from under Starks coat in a backward thrust. He could do nothing but watch in horror as the blade seemed to slow down as it inched closer and closer to his exposed chest, then cringe as he watched and felt the blade pierce the skin and he felt the blade cutting through bones, flesh and finally organs.

Suddenly the blade was ripped back out and he just stood there as the blood started to pour into his lungs. He coughed a few times blood coming up and dripping down behind the mask, he looked up to see Stark walking away and call over his shoulder

"Time to deal with that annoying women and collect our other two guests then we shall be on our way"

Ichigo tried to go after him and tried to tell him to stop but he just coughed up more blood and his knees gave out. He was seething at the thought of him touching any of those three that he didn't notice the amount of heavy hate filled reiatsu he was releasing until his mask shattered and he saw his two sisters pressed to the ground beside Yoruichi who was in a hell of a state.

But as his mask shattered a wave of exhaustion swept through him and he coughed up more blood and his body became heavy. He tried to get up again but his body felt like it was filled with lead, at this point he knew that he wasn't going to be able to help anymore.

He looked over his sisters and anger filled him to the core as he realised that he wasn't good enough to look after his sisters. He wasn't able to keep the two most beautiful and innocent girls in his life so far that had so much potential and so much to give to the world safe from the evils of the world. 'Wasn't that the reason he became a shinigami in the first place? To protect his family', and he blew it. 'Sorry mom, dad you won't be able to see them grow and enjoy life because I failed'.

A single tear rolled down his left cheek.

Then his eyes locked with Yoruichi's golden orbs that where wide with shock.

He wouldn't fully understand why but as he looked into those eyes he felt fear and unimaginable anguish in his heart at the look of sadness that filled her mesmerizing golden eyes. He felt agony rip through his chest knowing that he was the cause of that pain in her eyes. He wanted nothing more than to rush to her side and put a comforting arm around her and reassure her that it was alright and there was nothing to worry about. He wanted to see that playful glint in her eyes again like the first time she had ever shown him her true form that always made him feel like it would be alright. But it wasn't going to be

As he was thinking all of this he felt his body getting heavier and cold he looked into those captivating golden eyes once more, he wanted to say so much. 'Thank you for being my friend, thank you for teaching me so much, thank you for always having faith in me. But I'm sorry for letting you down, I'm sorry for not being strong enough to protect everyone, I'm sorry for allowing you to get hurt, I'm sorry you had to get dragged into this, I'm sorry I can't help you anymore, I'm sorry I can't be there to comfort you when you need someone to lean on', but in that moment all he could manage was

A silent "I'm sorry"

Finally his body had enough as he felt the familiar and comforting weight of zangetsu his trusted partner slip from his weak fingers followed by the rest of his body. As the darkness consumed him he heard the fading sound of voices calling out to him, he couldn't really tell who but it didn't matter anymore then silence

_(End flashback)_

"**Geez you're pathetic"**

Ichigo's eyes shot open and instead of dirt he saw the side of a building above him. He was puzzled for only a second then he realised that he was in his inner world. He was lying down against the side of the building in a world where the laws of gravity and physics were twisted so that up and down in the real world, was actually left and right, and left and right for the real world, is actually up and down in this realm.

"Do** you actually want to die?" **the voice said in a sadistic tone that had a echo behind it which slightly distorted the voice**.**

"**Man how do you manage to get yourself killed three fucking times in the space of a few god dam hours? I mean really are you actually that weak? Or do you genuinely want to throw your life away?" **the voice said getting more and more annoyed with each word

At this he sat up to see a mirror image of him standing before him, except this image wore a white robe with a black under shirt, also his hair was chalky white along with his skin. His blade was the same as zangetsu but the colours were reversed. Also his eyes were bright yellow instead of light brown and the whites of his eyes were black. He also had a sadistic grin stuck in place constantly, but apart from those few differences he was the spitting image of Ichigo, this was his hollow.

"**If you really don't value your life allow me to take control of this body, I will take much better care of this body then you have. Oh and I want die every five minutes!"** he stated with a annoyed look crossing his face **"I will also enjoy myself much more then you have so far"**

Ichigo didn't like the sound of that one bit. He would probably go and massacre everyone he knew.

"I'm not trying to kill myself you knob! I just always end up in fricking insane situations whether I like it or not. It's like I'm a bloody trouble magnet!" he yelled back at his inner hollow.

"**This is true but you are still pathetic. If you maybe let me out a bit more often you wouldn't need to worry and we wouldn't be in this fucking situation."**

"Ha! If I let you out you would run rampant and wouldn't let me take back control so that is out of the question" he stated without hesitation.

"**Well can you really blame me king? You never let me out at all. I just want a little bit of fun is that so much to ask for?"** the hollow whined

"**He has a point Ichigo"** stated a deep voice from his right

Ichigo turned to the side to see a tall man with long wavy dark brown hair, wearing a cloak similar to Ichigo's bankai but it was maroon instead of black and wasn't as tight. He had thick stubble running all along his jaw line and around his mouth he also wore sun glasses that were clear with a orange tint to them.

"Old man Zangetsu what do you mean?" Ichigo asked

"**Well if you used his power every now and again we wouldn't always be stuck in this situation. As you know we are both part of each other and therefore part of you so when you do not use both of us you are only using half of our full strength"** he said calmly

The hollow just nodded and stayed quiet to allow zangetsu to explain

"But what about my vizard form I obtained that by making him submit his powers to me, isn't that using both?" he asked totally confused right now

"**Yes and no"** he stated

"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked even more confused now

"**When you are in your vizard state yes you are using his power but that's just it, you are only using his raw power that he pumps into you when you summon that mask. You are not using any of his other attributes, such as his control of the power, his strategic abilities and basically his instinct to fight and survive" **he explained in his wise all knowing tone.

"So what are you saying? That I should just let him run wild every time I face someone who is tougher than me?" Ichigo said with a sceptic tone

"**Again yes and no"**

"Say what?"

"**You need to learn to use his other attributes along with his power. So you need to become more in tune with him when you take his power. You need to almost become one with him when you call upon him so that you may use all of our abilities to their fullest and become even stronger."** Zangetsu said all of this as he kept a close eye on Ichigo as he processed the new information.

Ichigo REALLY didn't like the sound of that 'become one with his hollow' it just didn't sit well with him one bit. He didn't want to become more like a hollow! He wanted to keep his sanity and his morals, he didn't want to become a mindless psychopath while he fought then turn around and regret his actions afterwards.

"I don't want to become a psychopath when I fight, I don't want to become more like a hollow just to attain power" he said with conviction in his voice. He wouldn't stoop so low as to discard everything he believed in and fought for just to become stronger.

"**What**** I am suggesting is not to become more like a hollow, well not entirely. But to become more in tune with its raw instincts of survival in battle, without giving in to it and keeping your morals. So you would be able to see opportunities and form strategies that you would not see normally. Almost like a level two vizard, one with a greater understanding of both backgrounds."**

Ichigo thought about that for a second and was still weighing up the pros and cons when in the distance he faintly heard a familiar voice filled with pain cry out

Then finally "ICHIGO!"

Pain racked through his chest as he heard the fear and longing that filled the voice, the voice of desperation. He had to do something he realised that he could sort this out later when he wasn't dying and there weren't people counting on him.

"Fine we can discuss it later on but what are we going to do about right now? You know the whole fact that I'm pretty much dead and all of my precious people are in danger how are we going to fix this?" he asked

His hollow then stepped forward "**I'm already way ahead of you on that one king"**

Ichigo got on guard as he prepared for the worst but asked anyway "And how is that?"

"**Well iv already taken control of your body and started my regeneration abilities but don't worry I will give it back as soon as I have my fun with our espada friend, as a show of good faith in a way"** he said with a huge grin plastered to his face as he started to fade away.

Ichigo was about to have kittens, he knew it! He knew the bastard would try something while he was focused elsewhere when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked around to see zangetsu looking calm and unfazed.

"**Let him be this time, enjoy the show you may be surprised and learn something new"** he said

Ichigo paused for a bit contemplating then relented and decided to let him off this time since he hadn't faired to well himself anyway.

* * *

**BAM there it is! man I just got on a role and before i knew it i had i had twenty pages worth so just to annoy you slightly im spliting it up.**

**I know i hate it when people do something like that but i just had to try it lol.**

**Yes i will be altering a few things about certain characters here and there to fit my story so dont worry too much.**

**Well if anyone is reading this let me know what you think, I am always open for constructive criticism**

**Please review Bye**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again everyone! **

**im back again. I just wanted to thank everyone who comented on my story so far im really stoked**

**well here is the next chapter i hope you enjoy it**

Chapter 3 Emotions

* * *

MEAN WHILE

(Yoruichi)

"Shut up already!" Stark yelled silencing the two sobbing girls "you don't need to worry he's not dead yet" he said with a smirk

"I had to incapacitate him because he just wasn't going to be reasonable and come quietly so the sooner you two girls come with me the sooner I can take him back to Aizen and the sooner we can save him" he said with an attempt at a soothing tone "and then you can live happily with your brother under the care of Aizen-sama"

As soon as he finished speaking Yoruichi managed to control herself again and finally looked away from Ichigo's still body to glare daggers at the approaching espada. As soon as her eyes fell upon him something deep within her snapped and uncontrollable rage flooded through her body. It was like hot fire was flowing through her veins and consuming her entire being urging her to act.

She saw the two girls where contemplating if they should go with the espada hoping that he was telling the truth for their brothers sake, she threw her hand up in front of them as she said "don't listen to him Aizen is a scumbag who wants to make you and Ichigo slaves to do his dirty work and carry out his sick experiments on" her voice was dripping with venom as she said this while slowly sitting up.

As she staggered to her feet she ignored the pain that was shooting through her body she didn't care anymore. She was going to make sure that this person, no, this thing was going to pay for everything he had done today. She was shaking a bit as she pushed herself to remain upright and on her feet and stood to face the approaching espada.

"You have interfered enough already" he said with clear annoyance on his face "now move you are in the way or I will end you right now and I do not want to keep Aizen-sama waiting any longer and disappoint him with a dead corpse"

"Heh I would like to see you try" she said with malice in her voice

"You may want to step back a bit this could get ugly" she said to the young girls over her shoulder as reiatsu began to gather around the back of her arms and shoulders. They immediately stepped back and around the boulder they had been by to take cover and watch in safety.

The build up of pressure ripped the back and arms of her orange shirt to ribbons allowing the rest to fall to the ground in pieces exposing her form fitting black stealth body suit that was skin tight along her legs but loosened slightly around her torso while a strap looped around the back of her neck to hold it in place. The suite left her back and shoulders exposed so that it didn't rip when she used shunko. But the skin tight material she used as sleeves that started half way between her shoulder and elbow and went right down to her wrists wasn't affected by the reiatsu.

As she gathered this reiatsu she slid into a fighting position. Her right leg was out straight in front of her on an angle while the left leg was behind her with a slight bend at the knee lowering her overall body position, her right arm was also outstretched and parallel with her leg while her left arm was raised behind her with a ninety degree at the elbow so that her fist was just above her head also pointing forward. The reiatsu was taking the form of white lightning that was arcing off in the direction of her arms.

she was running solely on adrenaline now but she didn't care right at this point in time all she was focused on doing was making him pay for what he had done to Ichigo and for involving his two kid sisters as well. She looked at him with a finale glare and ran straight for him intending to hit him as hard as she could, she was sending all of her reiatsu to her hands so that her hit would cause as much damage as possible.

But as she was closing the distance between them he suddenly vanished and the next thing she knew he was standing next to her swinging his arm straight for her. Before she could even think of moving out of the way her entire world was rocked by a ferocious back hand that hit her square in the face and sent her rocketing back where she came from. The whiplash of her head caused her to lose her control over her shunko causing it to dissipate into nothing.

She flew through the air for twenty feet but was abruptly brought to a stop as she flew head first into the boulder they had been by just before. Pain consumed her once again and her vision was coming in and out of focus as her head began to spin and the adrenaline rush faded from her body. Any strength or resolve she may have had previously shattered along with it.

She could hear the two girls calling out to her telling her to get back up but she couldn't move a muscle as pain and doubt robbed her of her ability to control her body and she lay limp against the boulder. Watching as death slowly came for her in the form of Stark.

She had always prided herself on being calm and collected in chaotic situations and always knowing how to control herself and her emotions, but something about what happened today just threw her control out the window. In a very rare display the goddess of flash began to panic eventually she just lost it and broke down. Tears began to well in her eyes as she realised that she was actually going to die now, and she realised that she hadn't really helped the young girls or Ichigo at all.

"Ichigo" she whispered in vain

She didn't know why but her heart began to ache at the thought of letting him down, of letting him die! Even worse letting him become a pawn for Aizen. She couldn't take it anymore as tears began to trail freely down her cheeks.

Finally as all of her resolve vanished it struck the goddess, she was for once in her life afraid, she didn't want to die anymore. She may have been prepared before, but now after seeing her favourite red head snuffed out she was frightened of it. She franticly began to babble and cried out

"Ichigo please, you can't die! You have to get up please! You have to save us; you have to get up for your sisters, please get up! Please for me?" "please...ICHIGO!" she finally wailed over the sobs of the Kurosaki twins.

It was then quiet for a while except for the sobs of the two young girls and the slow ominous thuds of Stark's footsteps, she was just about to give up completely when there was a massive blast of reiatsu that flattened all of the women present and stark hunched over slightly from the enormous pressure. The twins managed to look at who it was coming from before passing out due to their inexperience with reiatsu and resisting its force, but Yoruichi looked up to see Ichigo slowly getting up. As her eyes fell on the orange haired shinigami her heart fluttered and relief and joy filled her heart as she realised that they were going to be alright and that Ichigo would save her this time.

She was so happy at the sight of Ichigo standing up until she noticed that something was off, his eyebrows were still in there constant frown but he had a sadistic grin pulling the corner of his mouth up slightly. Also astonishingly the hole in his chest and the cut along his stomach where stitching themselves together. The way he held himself was also different, he stood much more upright but relaxed at the same time. But the thing that was throwing up red flags in her mind where his eyes, instead of his usual warm brown eyes he had bright yellow irises with the whites of his eyes becoming pitch black.

She was further convinced when he spoke

"**You really did a number on him for someone who is trying to not kill him didn't you?"** he said while looking straight at Stark but his voice wasn't his normal rough yet calming voice, it had a strong echo in the background that added a chill to his words which sent shivers up your spine.

"Hollow?" Yoruichi asked hoping it wasn't but knew better. She knew all about his inner hollow, always looking for a chance to claim dominance over his body even after attaining the vizard powers. But she had never seen it come out like this before and didn't know what to expect exactly.

He seemed to hear her because he turned to the woman but he didn't say anything he just looked at her taking her in studying her reaction intently. After a few seconds she had composed herself again and needed to know what was going on.

"Hollow?" she asked again slowly

He nodded slowly in confirmation

"What are you doing out? What did you do to Ichigo? Give back his body you have no right to be out!" she blurted out before she could stop herself all the while fixing him with a stern glare.

"**Geez don't worry that pretty little ass of yours, that look just doesn't suit you. And I'm doing king a fucking favour woman"** he said with smirk.

For a second she didn't know if she should be offended or not but quickly forgot about that when he had said he was doing Ichigo a favour.

"What do you mean" she asked studying him intently for any hint of a lie.

"**Ha! This shit is so weak that this is almost the third time he has died in the space of a few fucking hours today! Can you believe it? Well I'm getting sick of saving his ass all of the time so I'm gona take care of this myself and show everyone how things should be done and get it over and done with already!" **he spat out with disgust but as he saw the look on Yoruichi's face harden even more he added **"don't worry I'm not going to run off with this body we made a deal for now, so ease up already I thought I told you that look don't suit you"**

She ignored that last comment and told him in a dark dead serious tone "you better not or I will make sure you regret it for the rest of your existence you hear me?"

"**Yeah sure whatever you say babe"** he said as he just shrugged and rolled his neck.

She bristled up at him calling her babe and was about to let him have a piece of her mind when she was cut off by stark who had stayed quiet this whole time until now.

"Well what do we have here? A hollow that has taken over but is still in human form . . . interesting. So what are you going to do now?" he asked in half interested tone but his eyes had a look of intrigue in them

Hollow looked away from Yoruichi and looked him up and down taking him in and gauging his strength and reiatsu while he spoke. **"well I am going to take the words 'pain and suffering' to a whole new level, just for bringing king out here and putting him into a hell of a state cause he wasn't fighting smart. All cause you had to go and threaten his sisters and his woman. And after that? Well I haven't quite got that far yet"**. As he finished he reached down to pick up Zangetsu which had reverted back to its normal form.

Yoruichi was glad that the attention wasn't on her because oddly enough a slight blush had crossed her cheeks when the hollow had called her 'Ichigo's woman'. She couldn't believe that even in a situation like this she was still thinking about little things like that. She was still berating herself for it as she watched hollow Ichigo pick up Zangetsu and bring it in front of him while pointing it straight at Stark, he brought his left hand and placed it on top of his out stretched arm just above the elbow and said one word.

"**Ban...kai!"**

There was another huge blast of reiatsu that would have knocked her flat on her back had she not already been leaning against the boulder. Then the pressure vanished and there was a cloud of dust obscuring her vision of the hollow. She knew he was still there because she could feel an enormous reiatsu, it wasn't pressing down on her it was just a presence that just screamed power.

The dust began to settle and she was slowly able to take in his appearance. It looked like Ichigo's normal bankai but his hair had grown slightly, his once short spiky orange locks had grown about roughly two inches so now his fringe fell in his face dangling down and threatened to cover his hard yellow eyes. Giving him more of a shaggy appearance which she thought didn't look too bad on him, his hakama was all the same as his usual bankai, tight around his upper body and arms then fanning out from the waist down. The only difference was a jagged blood red line that spiralled down his right arm starting above his shoulder all the way to his wrist but his blade also now had a thin jagged blood red line spiralling up the length of the blade that pulsed a few times then fade into the blackness of the blade that seemed to absorb all of the light around it.

He gave Stark another glare before he began to chuckle to himself sadistically which sent shivers up Yoruichi's spine.

Then he was gone and a large cut appeared along Starks right arm, and Ichigo appeared about ten yards to his left. His evil chuckle slowly intensifying into a psychotic laugh as he saw the blood dripping to the ground enjoying the feeling of being able to have his fun with someone.

"So fast!" was all she was able to say as she watched him attack, it had been so fast that she had barely been able to follow him.

Stark took a moment to look down at his arm then back at the hollow and his face hardened as he realised the level that they would be playing at now and summoned his sword again. He turned to face the laughing hollow and that was all he had time to do because Ichigo was upon him swinging wildly forcing Stark back with every strike of his blade.

Yoruichi noticed that his fighting style had also altered, it was all wild strikes that at first just looked like mindless swinging but as she continued to observe, she began to see that there was actually a flow in his movements. Each strike would flow smoothly into the next, there were no wasted movements no hesitations and combined with his speed and strength it was a devastating style. It was like a raging river rapid, on the surface it was raw power, rough and ugly but underneath it flowed quick and smooth and manoeuvred around any objects in its way with deadly precision and force sweeping away anything that entered its domain.

And stark had just entered the hollows domain. He was keeping up but just barely the shinigami's hollow was unrelenting in his advances, every time he would parry a hit the hollow would use the momentum of the parry to spin or twist in a second to bring the blade back around again and again

She could only watch in awe as he fought, all of that deadly force and power in fluid and precise strikes made her shiver at the thought of a hollow being able to fight in that manner. She had always assumed they only fought with brute strength and not with intelligence like this one was. Sure the arrancar and espada fought with their heads and could make strategies and one or two were rather smart. But that was given to them by the hougyoku that Aizen had exposed them to, while this was just a hollow not arrancar that possessed an intelligence that was on a instinctual level. This allowed him to attack and react without having to think about it his body would just move of its own accord.

Stark had managed to score a few cuts on the hollow when he had used sonido a few times to get past the hollows defences, but he didn't seem to notice he just cackled even more when ever his blood was drawn to be healed a minute later. Stark was definitely worse off though his jacket was cut to shreds only being held together by a couple of blood soaked strands, he had a cut along his right eyebrow and down the side of his face. He also had numerous cuts covering his arms and legs along with two nasty cuts on his chest but the worst one was a large gash that almost ran the entire length of his back. Starting at his left shoulder and finishing just above his right hip.

It was safe to say that Stark had definitely seen better days.

She kept watching as stark blocked another downward slash from the hollow who instantly spun to the right on the balls of his feet swinging his blade around for a horizontal swipe at the espada who jumped back just in time. The hollow used the moment to spin while reversing his grip on his blade and then lunging forward again punching his arm forward with the blade headed for stark. Stark brought his blade up to stop it from cutting him in two, and lashed out with a punch that connected with hollows face causing him to loosen his grip for a second. That was all he needed, he twisted his blade pulling the blade out of his hand.

But just as he thought he had victory the hollow snatched the chain attached to the handle out of the air and began swinging the blade in wide arcs at stark. He was twirling his blade in vertical circles at his side alternating each side with each swing in a figure eight motion while stark blocked the onslaught.

Stark instantly regretted removing Zangetsu from the hollows hand because now the blade was moving even faster than before and he was having trouble keeping up with the sharp instrument. Suddenly the hollow made a large horizontal swipe which was dodged but stark was to slow to block the over head swing that followed and cursed as the blade embedded itself in his left shoulder slicing through his muscles and some bones before it hit a cluster and stopped.

Yoruichi gasped as the blade pierced Starks shoulder but kept watching in silence to see what would happen next. Then a psychotic look flashed across his face and his sadistic grin doubled as an idea popped into his head. She suddenly noticed the red spiral on Tensa Zangetsu was glowing and pulsing slowly as he reached forward to grab its handle.

* * *

(Stark)

Stark couldn't move out of shock and pain from the blade imbedded in his shoulder but slowly started to come out of his daze when a red spiral running the length of the black blade began to glow and pulse followed by an intense burning sensation stemming from the wound and spreading through his body. It was absolutely excruciating and the pain rooted him in place again as fear ripped through him as he thought of what might happen next.

He looked into those cold eyes, the stuff of nightmares; look straight back at him with hate and bloodlust which made for a terrifying sight. Then those eyes widened slightly and the sight became even more fear inducing as a psychotic look flashed through them quickly followed by a sadistic grin. He felt a whole new level of fear run rampant in his mind as the burning sensation intensified and the hollow slowly reached forward and grabbed the handle of the pulsing blade.

"**Now you are going to know what happens when people mess with king and the people he cares for"** he said quietly while he gave him a piercing stare that seemed to look right through him into his mind and soul.

For a second he just looked at him then the hollow began to say a word that broke him mentally as he finally knew what was going to happen to him and he panicked and tried to bring his blade up to do something to escape his fate but it was too late.

* * *

(Yoruichi)

She watched on in silence the tension in the air was so thick that she was scared to even move a muscle. She watched as the two just looked at each other for a few seconds, but it felt like hours then the hollow said something to Stark and he looked as if he was a little kid afraid of the dark trying to hide from any monsters. That look of fear increased as she heard hollow say something that would seal the espada's fate, she watched as the espada struggled franticly and started to bring his blade around to try and escape but he was far too late for that now.

"**Getsuga Tenshou!" **he said excitedly as black reiatsu tinged with red gathered around the blade then shot straight down tearing effortlessly through his body. Eating away bones and incinerating any flesh and organs in its way, as it went through and collided with the ground a huge cloud of dust was thrown up as a shockwave shot out from the attack pressing her hard against the boulder she was leaning on.

As the dust settled she could make out a lone figure standing in a small crater. She let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding when she saw that it was Ichigo's hollow standing there with Tensa Zangetsu beside him still glowing. He continued to stare at the mangled form of what was left of Starks body, most of his left side was gone or severely mangled. There was no blood because when 'getsuga tensho' ripped through him it cauterized all of the flesh that remained, but it was still a sickening sight. Any normal person would be emptying the contents of their stomachs at the sight.

He noted that his two pistols where both off to the side slightly but didn't worry too much about it and turned to walk away.

Yoruichi watched carefully as he started to walk back in her direction then pause and drop to his knees and slump over slightly. She was startled by this and she was scared something had happened to him, even though it was the hollow it was still Ichigo's body that was suffering. But she watched as he lifted his head to look at her and her eyes locked with warm light brown eyes.

* * *

(Ichigo)

Ichigo was sitting with his legs crossed and his blade resting across his knees. He had been watching the whole fight and keeping an eye on everything that the hollow had done, he had been able to observe in his mind what was happening outside through the hollows eyes. He had been impressed by what he had seen but at the same time disturbed by the ferociousness and brutality of his fight. But was extremely surprised when his hollow had finished his fight and began to walk towards the girls but then showed up sitting next to him.

He blinked a few times then reached over and poked his hollow in the arm and was again surprised to feel it was solid. He had been prepared to try and fight his hollow for dominance so was totally confused when he came back of his own accord.

"Are you alright? Why did you come back when you could have kept going?" he asked with a very puzzled look on his face.

"**What? I told you I would come back. And I got to have my fun with that espada so I'm satisfied for now" **he said with a deep frown on his face

"Wow I was thinking you had just said that to make me ease up on you and let you go this time and had really thought I was going to have to fight you to get you back." he said while he scratched the side of his face

"**Yea yea whatever. Now did you see what I did? That is how you fight! You better learn from what you saw because if you keep getting your ass kicked I will take over permanently you got that?" **he said as his voice began to rise a bit

"Got ya" he said quickly

The hollow just glared at him for a second then seemed to accept his response then turned to look straight ahead and said **"Good then. Now get out of here and go to your woman before she starts to panic"**

"She is not my woman!" he yelled back.

"**Yea sure whatever you say, just hurry up and get out of my sight already"** he said as he pushed Ichigo.

Ichigo paused then a smirk crossed his face. "If I didn't know any better I would say you care about me don't ya?" he said with a small chuckle but had to roll out of the way of the hollows blade as it passed right through where his head had been a second ago.

"**Don't go and get any ideas there king, this is just self preservation nothing more. If you die I die it's that simple got it?** The hollow growled holding his blade ready to strike again if Ichigo made another comment.

Ichigo just nodded and started to fade away as he took conscious control of his body.

The hollows features softened ever so slightly as the red head faded away and he sat back down.

"**What do you think? Do you think he will learn from this ordeal or not old man?" **The hollow asked as Zangetsu appeared behind him

Zangetsu was quiet for a bit as he contemplated everything. **"I'm not sure to be honest. I hope he does open up to this because I have a feeling that he will need all of the strength possible in the near future" **he said and hollow just nodded as they both began to wonder about what the future would have in store for them.

As Ichigo opened his eyes and took a few deep breaths he noticed that his body was aching and a little stiff but other than that it was pretty good considering what it had gone through today. As he got a hold of his bearings he looked up to see where everyone was and his eyes fell on Yoruichi looking at him anxiously. He smiled as he saw her whole body relax as their eyes locked and he was glad that she was safe now.

He slowly got to his feet, his body was feeling extremely heavy but he didn't care and started to walk in her direction. As he got closer he looked around looking for his sisters and relaxed as he felt a weight lift off his shoulders when he saw both of them around the side of the boulder that Yoruichi was against, passed out but both fine. He was relieved to know that everyone was finally safe.

When he was in front of her and looked at her he noticed a glowing red light that was around her right arm but forgot about it when he saw the state of her body. Every bruise and cut on her made him angry again but not angry at the one who did this to her but at himself for allowing this to happen to her because he wasn't strong enough. But he was brought out of that thought path when he saw tears welling in her golden eyes.

Before he knew what he was doing he dropped to his knees beside her and gently pulled her into his arms, at first she did nothing then she wrapped her arms around him and clutched at him as hard as her tiered arms could and buried her face into his chest as the emotional stress of the day got the better of her. He knew she was crying as he felt the front of his hakama getting wet but because he didn't exactly know what to say to her at the moment, he gave her a reassuring squeeze and rubbed her back slowly to let her know it was alright and that he was there for her.

They stayed like this for a while just holding each other not wanting to let the other go, afraid if they did the other would be taken from them. As he held Yoruichi in his arms a bright light flashed behind him and he looked around to see what the source was

He was surprised to see a young girl kneeling beside Starks remains. She was young maybe around twelve or thirteen years old with a very small frame for a body. She had short green hair that was mostly hidden by a smooth white helmet like object on her head that came down and went around her left eye and had a red flame pattern above it, the fragment also had two horns one was broken about a inch above her head while the other one curved upwards. This was what was left of her mask after she became an arrancar.

She had a pink eye and had a small hole in her stomach above her belly button. She wore hardly any clothing she had black boots and white leggings that ran from her ankles up to about midway up her thigh, she also wore a small vest that just went around her shoulders and barely covered her modest chest leaving an awfully lot of exposed skin. She wore a bikini style bottom and had sleeves that started just below her shoulders and ran down the length of her arms and finished above her knuckles, all of her clothes were a plane white.

He watched as she looked around and saw him, and then watched as the anger in her eyes intensified until it was full on rage.

* * *

(Lilinette)

When she opened her eyes she was lying on the ground in a shallow crater in her arrancar form again. She instantly got up and looked around for Stark as she remembered what had happened just before. She felt her heart shatter as her eyes roamed across what was left of him; she crawled to his side and was almost sick at what they had done to him. She remembered as that shinigami had said those two words that he had quickly grabbed her out of the holsters at his sides and tossed her to the side. She had been pissed at the time but now she saw why he had done it.

She felt even more loss as she realised that he had cared for her so much, that with his last moments of life he had made sure that she was safe and she would survive.

Pain racked her entire being as she looked around for the one responsible for this, she found him on his knees holding the dark skinned woman not too far away from her. As their eyes met her pain slowly turned to anger which turned to uncontrollable rage as she kept looking at him. She began to tremble with furry then turned and looked at her partner one more time and lost it, this man would pay for what he had done and she was going to make sure of it.

As she made her decision she slowly sat up and raised her arm up to point it straight at Ichigo with her open palm to him. A pink orb began to gather in her palm and she grinned at the looks of horror on their faces as the ball of pink energy began to grow and expand. When it reached a sufficient size she said one word under her breath dripping with hate

"Cero" and the orb rocketed towards her partner's killer.

* * *

(Ichigo)

He got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as he saw the emotions on her face then watched as she turned to look at Stark again then back to him, and he really didn't have a good feeling about how this was going to end. As he saw the rage written all over her face and continued to watch as she raised her hand to them and suddenly alarm bells started going off in his head as he could almost guarantee what was about to happen next.

His fears were confirmed as he watched in horror as a ball of pink energy began to gather in her palm. Then as the cero was released he felt Yoruichi's body tense and her grip on him tighten, he looked down to see that she was peeking out from around his arm at the incoming cero. He would have just flash stepped out of the way but his sisters were still in the line of fire so that was out of the question.

"When will it end" he said in frustration as he picked up Zangetsu and began to charge the little reiatsu he had left into his blade to hopefully destroy the cero since dodging was out of the question.

He was just about to release a getsuga tenshou when he heard someone yell out

"Bakudo 81 Danku" (way of binding 81 splitting void)

"Bakudo 61 Rikujokoro" (way of binding 61 six rods prison of light)

Suddenly there was a haze in front of him and the cero smashed into it but was brought to a halt by the clear barrier

As he watched this happen he realised that they were saved, but he was worried again as he thought that he didn't know if the person who had saved him was a friend or foe. After this thought passed through his mind he felt his body becoming incredibly heavy. He tried to resist the darkness but it was just too much as the stress and events of the day finally caught up to him and quickly overpowered him. As the darkness claimed him the last thing he was aware of was the comforting weight of Yoruichi against his chest and her grip around him, he griped her tighter not going to let her go and let her get hurt again then there was nothing.

* * *

(Next day)

(Ichigo)

He felt heavy, his eyelids where heavy resisting his will to open them. His body ached and he felt out of sync but he managed to open his eyes and take in a bit of his surroundings. He was lying down on a nice soft futon, the ceiling was a dim brown colour with a light hanging from it a little to his left the walls a dirty green colour that seemed extremely familiar to him but he couldn't quite place where from.

He tried to figure out how he got here, and then suddenly the events before he blacked out rushed back to him. He then realised that Yoruichi wasn't in his arms anymore and he was by himself, fear griped his heart at the thought of not knowing where the girls were. He bolted upright in a second and started calling out their names as all rational thought left his head swamped by fear and anxiety.

"YORUICHI? KARIN? YUZU? Where are you? He yelled franticly

He was so consumed with worry he didn't even realise he was in Urahara's shop until he ran into the hall and smacked into Kisuke himself. They both fell to the ground in a tangled heap and stayed like that as Ichigo just stared at him his mind slowly calming down and piecing together what this meant. Once the realisation of where he was and that he was safe set in, he quickly untangled himself from Kisuke and sat in the middle of the hallway in front of him.

Then the questions started to come out like a burst dam.

"Where are my sisters and Yoruichi? Are they alright? How did we get here? When did we get here? Who saved us? How long have I been out?" they kept coming out in quick succession.

Kisuke watched him for a second with a blank expression on his face, he was surprised he had so much energy after only waking up a second ago and everything he had been through yesterday. He then raised his hand to silence him but when Ichigo kept going on he got impatient and smacked him across the head with his fan.

"OI! What was that for?" Ichigo yelled at him while he nursed the bump that was forming on his head.

"You wouldn't calm down and let me explain so I had no choice" he said while smirking behind his open fan.

"Ok now that your listening I will let you know that Aizen managed to escape, and we have restored karakura town to its rightful place. Also your sisters are safe, they are at home and have had their memories altered slightly so they will think the whole ordeal was a horrible nightmare" he said and paused as he watched Ichigo relax a bit at the news of his sisters.

"And I was able to find you thanks to the band I gave to Yoruichi before she followed you which contained a bit of my reiatsu in it and acted like a beacon for me to find her no matter where you ended up. But I was lucky to find you on the outskirts of rakongai in soul society, though I was rather shocked at the same time that he would choose to go into enemy territory." he paused again as Ichigo processed what he had said

"So that's what that band was for" he thought out loud as he remembered seeing the glowing band on her wrist.

"Yes and we were lucky to come when we did or things could have been a lot messier" he stated

"We? Who else was with you?" Ichigo quickly asked

"Rukia-san and Renji-san accompanied me. Shortly after we had dealt with the menos that had come through into this world another garganta opened and the rest of the group that had been in hueco mundo came through it. Except captain Mayuri and his lieutenant they went straight back to soul society. But when I said I was going to find and assist you and Yoruichi, Rukia and Renji insisted on joining me." as he said this Ichigo's lips pulled into a small smile at the thought of his friends always having his back.

"When we found you we arrived just in time to see the cero being fired at you and had just enough time to erect a barrier in front of you and capture the girl. We took her back to soul society to try and learn anything about Aizen and any future plans. But we didn't learn too much, she was in such a state that she wouldn't cooperate very much. I don't really blame her after seeing the state in which you left her partner." Kisuke said as he gave Ichigo a questioning look

Ichigo cringed slightly at what he said and the look he was giving him. "That was the hollow. I was pretty much dead and he came out to finish it and I think he was trying to make a point at the same time" he said while looking away from Urahara.

Urahara frowned but didn't push the matter any further for now. "well we did learn that when you had entered Hueco mundo Stark had been ordered to find your sisters because of his ability to track and hide his presence, he was to find them and bring them along just in case anything didn't work out as planned, such as you defeating your opponents in hueco mundo and returning to the living world. It seems that you were supposed to be a piece in the next part of his plan." he paused for a second then continued

"They were meant to be used as leverage against you to make you cooperate once he had returned to Hueco mundo. So they went to the real world and were able to search undetected and found that everyone was gone so decided to check soul society for the hell of it. And their lucky guess paid off when they got there. As they stumbled across the real karakura town she told us that their job was made even easier as they were part of the few people in the living world that had been influenced by your reiatsu and were walking around while everyone else was out cold. And that was that they just had to grab them knock them out and head to the real world just as Aizen had come from hueco mundo." he explained and studied Ichigo as he again processed the information he had just given him

He seemed satisfied with what he heard and nodded telling Kisuke that he understood everything then he looked up again "Ok so where is Yoruichi? You haven't told me if she is alright or not yet, you have told me about everything else but you've been avoiding mentioning her. Why is that? Did something happen to her? Is she safe?" he started to ramble as he started to expect the worst

Urahara chuckled behind his fan 'rather observant boy he is' he thought to himself

He was about to put Ichigo's fears to rest when he was interrupted by a door sliding open behind Ichigo and a head of purple hair popping out and looking about for the source of all the commotion.

* * *

**And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed it**

**it was rather hard to get this one to flow like the first ones but its all good.**

**tell me what you think and ill try to get the next one up as soon as possible.**

**any suggestions for the story are welcome and does anybody know where I can get the correct japanese terms from bleach? it would be much appreciated if someone could let me know.**

**anyway review and cya later**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright chapter four is finally up guys! **

**I would just like to apalogize for the long delay I was very caught up with work and family matters and I have only just recently had some spare time to start writing again.**

**I am hoping to aim for at least one chapter a month, more if possible but i think that is what i will aim for from now on ok **

**So i hope you enjoy and i hope it's up to standard im always open to constructive criticism so tell me what you think**

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Chapter Four

Recovery

* * *

(Yoruichi)

The first thing that registered in her mind was PAIN! She felt as if she had just been hit by a truck her head was throbbing and her leg and mid section were stinging. Her whole body was aching and protested every time she tried to move anything.

But she was brought to her senses and her eyes shot open as she heard someone yell out her name, all of a sudden all of the events up until now came flooding back and she was gripped by fear when she realised she was alone.

(_Flashback)_

As his head lifted again she looked right into his warm brown eyes and she was able to relax again as she realised that Ichigo was in control again. He slowly got to his feet and made his way towards her, she could see his eyes soften even more when he found his sisters around the side of the boulder she was leaning against.

When he was standing in front of her she couldn't help but feel relief fill her as she took him in, and noticed that all of the wounds he had received earlier where now gone and all that was left was a few tears in his hakama. She looked up at his face and saw that his hair still had that shaggy appearance that she found looked quite good on him, especially with those soft brown eyes peering out from behind a few loose strands that fell across his face.

Although they weren't soft at the moment, they were roaming across her and had hardened at the sight of the injuries that covered her body. She knew he was blaming himself for what had happened to her and she was moved that he cared for her like that. But at the same time if she had possessed the strength required she would have smacked him for trying to shoulder all of the blame. But for now she just looked up into his caring eyes and couldn't stop the tears that had welled up in her eyes

She was caught off guard when he suddenly dropped to his knees beside her and pulled her into him. At first she didn't know what to do but after a second she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him as tight as she could with her battered body. She clutched him tighter as the emotions of the last hour took their toll on her and the tears spilled from her eyes, the pain of seeing him basically dead, the fear of being at deaths door, the helplessness of watching your death coming closer. Those and many more emotions just spilled out in her tears.

She was shaking and sobbing quietly in his comforting embrace and felt at ease as he gently gave her a squeeze and rubbed her back letting her know that he was there for her and to let it all out. She started to relax as the feeling of his strong arms wrapped around her gave her a sense of security almost like she was protected from the world at that point. She buried her face deeper into his hard chest and took in his scent, it was a light earthy smell mixed with a bit of sweat that seemed to allow a sense of calm to wash over her. At that point she felt safe and secure and she knew as long as he was with her she would be safe and wouldn't have to worry anymore.

She was beginning to drift into blissful sleep when she suddenly felt Ichigo's body tense up and she wondered what was happening know. She turned her head to the right and looked around Ichigo's arm to see a young girl kneeling in a crater, arm outstretched with a pink ball in her palm. Then she saw the ball erupt into a huge cero hurtling towards them and she held on to Ichigo as if her life depended on it as another wave of fear crashed down on her. The stress was just too much for her at this point and she began to fade into unconsciousness, the last thing she heard before she was consumed was a pair of kido being yelled out then nothing.

(_End flashback)_

She was about to start to panic but as she took in her surroundings she started to slowly calm down as she realised that she was in Kisuke's shop.

She then heard a commotion outside of her room and started to try and pick herself up but it was slow going as her body was telling her to stop and rest more. But she needed to know what had happened and what was happening now also what had happened to Ichigo?

The last question was answered when she heard his voice just outside her room, he was babbling on like a maniac asking question after question. She assumed he must be talking to Kisuke as she heard a

'SMACK' followed by a protest and a groan

She giggled as she guessed Urahara hadn't been able to get the boys attention and had resorted to a more 'direct' method of getting his attention.

She was relieved that he was alright and safe but at the same time she was slightly surprised at how much energy he had after waking up and everything that had happened. But started to listen to the explanation of the events that occurred during her time of unconsciousness.

While she was listening she started to try moving her body and see how much movement she actually had, apart from the initial heavy feeling and a bit of tenderness in her right thigh and across her stomach she was rather surprised at how well her body had recovered after the mess she had been in.

When she was happy with her movement she started to slowly crawl towards the door to the room to see what was happening. It was around this point where Urahara's explanation had stopped and Ichigo's questions began to flood out again. She felt her chest warm a little at the fact that he was so worried about her but at the same time thought he could take it down a notch before he blew a gasket or something.

She slowly slid the sliding door open to find Ichigo and Kisuke both sitting in the middle of the hall just outside of her door. Kisuke was wearing his usual baggy greyish green three quarter pants and shirt with a large dark green coat with a white diamond pattern around the hem over the top. He wore traditional styled Japanese sandals and also wore a full brim hat that had thick green and white strips covering it, along with a cane (Which is actually his sword disguised) and a fan that he always seemed to have with him. She turned to the red head and saw that he seemed to be fine and started to say

"Did it ever occur to you tha...mph!"

She never got the chance to finish as the next thing she new Ichigo had wrapped her in his arms and gave her big squeeze.

"I'm glad you're alright, I was really worried that something had happened to you" he said softly into her ear.

This caused her to blush furiously as his words and his gesture sunk in. She didn't know what to do she was too shocked to act, sure she'd had contact with guys before and had many guys try to hit on her and do many things, and she had also had relationships with men before. But this was different, these simple words and his action seemed to knock the wind right out of her. It didn't help at all that she could feel his toned muscles pressing against her, it was at this point that she also realised that he was not wearing a shirt. But before she could think about her position anymore, she heard him whisper something into her ear again.

"Thank you" then he released her and sat back down in the middle of the hallway.

She was slightly reluctant to have him let go but didn't say anything because she was still trying to figure out why that affected her so much. At the same time she was a bit puzzled as to what he was thanking her for but before she could ask why, two figures came around the corner behind Ichigo.

"I thought it might be this idiot causing all the commotion" said the first figure with a chuckle as they walked up to the group.

He was a tall man wearing a standard shinigami hakama and had white socks and sandals with a zanpakuto tucked into the belt on his left side. He had long fiery red hair tied back into a spiky pony tail with lightning shaped tattoos on his forehead.

"Who's the idiot? The only idiot I see around here is you Abarai Renji" Ichigo said in a dark tone while turning around slightly to glare up at the man.

"Now now there's no need to get all excited as soon as we see each other" Kuchiki Rukia said pleadingly. She was a rather short girl with dark black hair that was just above shoulder length with a few stray strands that fell past her shoulders and a stray bang that fell down in front of her face. She had large violet eyes that showed innocence and intelligence. She was also wearing the standard shinigami uniform and also had a zanpakuto tucked into her belt as well.

"Who you calling an idiot huh? I didn't almost die three times in one day like a certain fool I know" Renji said in a mocking tone.

"That was complety out of my control it's not my fault everyone sees me as a target." Ichigo shot back.

"Ahhhhh I'm being ignored... oh well" Rukia sighed with her palm pressed to her forehead. Then she walked over to the dark skin woman who was still sitting on the floor in the doorway while the two boys kept arguing.

"I'm glad to see that you have recovered pretty well. How are you feeling Yoruichi-san?" she asked while kneeling down next to her.

"I'm feeling pretty good considering the previous circumstances. And I have you guys to thank for that." Yoruichi replied sweetly with a smile.

"No we didn't do much we just tagged along and were just glad we got there when we did and not any later" the short girl said quickly.

Yoruichi nodded and looked around to see Urahara still sitting in the same place with his fan covering the bottom half of his face to hide the grin that he had.

"My my we have some noisy people being inconsiderate to those who are still recovering and need rest" he said but wasn't heard by the two males.

"I'll get rid of them now" Rukia sighed

"I wouldn't have needed to be saved three times" Renji growled

"Oh yea what are you trying to imply ae?" Ichigo retorted

"That I'm better than you"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yup"

"You wanna prove it?"

"Anytime"

"Let's go then"

'CLONK'

"OWWW what was that for?" the two boys whined in unison while each nursing a new lump forming on the back of their heads.

"Is that how you treat people who are injured midget?" Ichigo added.

"You obviously aren't injured enough if you're making that racket and talking back. And unlike you there are still people who need rest and cant when you're yelling outside their room." Rukia said in a dark tone that promised more pain if you weren't careful.

"Well you're not necessarily being quiet either now are you?" Renji quickly added

"Wrong move man" Ichigo whispered

"Why?" Renji asked confused

Suddenly the temperature in the hallway seemed to drop about five degrees and an evil glint seemed to appear in Rukia's eyes. Both boys' survival instincts kicked in and knew that this was not a safe place to be at that moment and in turn began to slowly back away from the threat.

Ichigo looked around at Yoruichi who still had not moved and said "Yoruichi-san I'm glad your okay and have a good rest hope you recover fully soon there is something I'd like to ask you later"

Then gave her a wave and bolted in the other direction followed closely by Renji with an angry Rukia hot on their heels. Because of his quick escape he missed the slight blush that tinged Yoruichi's cheeks after his comments.

"Wow I haven't seen that kind of reaction from you for at least a hundred years Yo-rui-chi-chan" Urahara said in a sort of sing song tone from behind his fan.

"Oh shut up I don't know what you're talking about" she said quickly.

"Oh reeeeaaaaaally?" he said playfully

"Yes now if you excuse me I'm going to go back to bed for a bit if that's alright with you. And don't disturb me"

"So you don't want me to wake you up for dinner then?"

she paused for a bit "no wake me up around then that sounds good" she said as she closed the door behind her.

"Oh dear I thought that might be the case, we're gonna have to break out the reserves tonight." Kisuke mumbled to himself

After she had closed the door a huge blush crossed her cheeks as the thoughts of Ichigo worrying about her made her feel warm inside. But the blush intensified as the memory of Ichigo hugging her and the feel of his rock hard body pressing against her, along with the feel of his breath on her skin when he whispered into her ear. 'Why did he do that?' her legs were starting to become weak at the knees until she finally snapped herself out of it.

"Come on Yoruichi your getting worked up over something silly like a little school girl would." she told herself. But the blush never left her cheeks even when she hoped back onto her futon and drifted to sleep again.

* * *

(Ichigo)

After he had managed to evade being beaten by the little shinigami and managed to calm said person down a bit. The three friends spent the next few hours relaxing on the top of the Urahara shop filling each other in on what happened the previous day. He found out what had happened to Soi Fon regarding her arm which had shocked him at first. Ichigo was interested in what had happened to all the other captains and their luiteniants after he had gone through the garganta. It turns out everyone survived although a few received a few injuries but nothing to serious, and everyone was taken care of by captain Unahana and Orihime. This allowed the red head to relax a bit more.

They continued on like this enjoying the evening air and the company until they heard a ruckus in the building underneath them. The trio of young shinigami's looked at each other then decided to investigate after relaxing the whole afternoon, they followed the noise into the shop and down the hall and into the dining room to an unexpected sight. On one side of the room was five empty bowls stacked on top of each other on the floor and on the other side was Jinta and Ururu bringing more and more bowls of food from the kitchen. And in the middle of it all was Yoruichi wolfing down each bowl of food as it was handed to her from the right then being added to the pile of empties on the left.

But that wasn't the only thing that had shocked the boys of the trio at least, the other very surprising thing in the room was Yoruichi sitting there in only a bra and small pair of boy shorts with her hair tied in its usual pony tail. Ichigo for some reason couldn't take his eyes off her, it was like he had found an amazing piece of artwork whose beauty and craftsmanship captured the eye and wouldn't let you look away.

He started to take everything in, it was weird he had always known that she was very beautiful but she had always just been a teacher and friend to him, so this was the first time that he had really looked at her.

He travelled up the length of her smooth tanned legs with his eyes, and then glanced over her tight and well toned stomach with a slight hint of muscles coming through. Then up past her very generous chest and followed all of the lines along her collar bones and shoulders, but when he started to look up a bit higher along her small petite lips and past her smooth flawless cheeks to meet her golden eyes. He soon realised that she had stopped eating and had busted him checking her out, what's worse everyone else had stopped and just watched as he studied her.

Suddenly he felt Very self conscious and uneasy about what he had just done so blatantly, but he became even more worried when he saw something flash across those captivating golden orbs and a smile pull at the corners of her mouth.

"What's up I-chigo? You see something you like?" she almost purred out as she leant back and arched her back slightly which helped emphasise her already very generous chest.

This action was too much for not only Ichigo but any red blooded male that would ever set eyes upon this scene. Yoruichi started to chuckle to herself as blood began to drip from the noses of the two male shinigami.

But she wasn't quite done with her fun just yet. "What's the matter Ichigo? It's nothing you haven't seen before. Although you seem to have dropped the innocent boy act this time huh?" she said in a teasing tone.

"W-wh-what tha-t wasn't my fault that time. Y-you're the one who changed right in front of me. I'm not a pervert I just happened to get slightly distracted right now" The red head said in defence which ended in a mumble that everyone could barely make out.

"I-CHI-GOO" he heard from beside him as he looked down to see Rukia trembling slightly, he instantly knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Are you telling me that you have been peeking at girls while they have been getting changed? And to top it off peeking at a member of one of the six highest noble families! This is a new low for you strawberry" Rukia said in a tone dripping with disgust.

"N-No you've got it wrong she changed form in front of me not clothes it was the first time I had seen her real form and I didn't know she was gonna end up nude." Ichigo said frantically trying to plead his innocence. He looked over at the dark skinned goddess hoping for some sort of help but his hopes were dashed when he saw her laughing at how things had turned out.

"Your lies won't work here Ichigo, perverted men need to be given lessons on proper etiquette around women before their habits get out of hand?" Rukia said in a low voice.

"No you've got it wrong, it's not my fault, and I'm not like that!" he pleaded but his pleas fell on deaf ears as a dark aura started to form around the small woman. And she slowly drew her zanpakuto.

Ichigo knew that at this point there was no hope but to run for it, so he promptly turned and removed himself from the room immediately before any punishment could be handed to him. He could hear Yoruichi's laughs from in the room as Rukia gave chase.

After he had manage to lose Rukia for the second time today he found himself again sitting on the roof of a nearby building watching as the last rays from the sun faded from the world and the stars began to illuminate the darkening sky.

He began to think about the events that had taken place up until now and what they meant and also what was in store for him yet. He thought about what Stark had said to him about being part of Aizen's plans, and about already progressing past a certain point. He thought it made it sound like he was Aizen's little experiment to play with. That made him think 'what is he planning now?' he obviously didn't plan to be stopped by all of the captains, or for me to get away so what is he thinking now? Is he going to lay low for a while or is he going to come back for some sort of revenge?

The more he thought about it the more confused he got, which in turn just ended up frustrating him. But suddenly the words of old man Zangetsu flashed through his head

(_Flashback_)

"**You are only using his raw power that he pumps into you when you summon that mask. You are not using any of his other attributes, such as his control of the power, his strategic abilities and basically his instinct"** he explained in his wise all knowing tone.

"So what are you saying? That I should just let him run wild every time I face someone who is tougher than me?" Ichigo said with a sceptic tone

"**Again yes and no"**

"Say what?"

"**You need to learn to use his other attributes along with his power. So you need to become more in tune with him when you take his power. You need to almost become one with him when you call upon him so that you may use all of our abilities to their fullest and become even stronger."** Zangetsu said all of this as he kept a close eye on Ichigo as he processed the new information.

Ichigo REALLY didn't like the sound of that 'become one with his hollow' it just didn't sit well with him one bit. He didn't want to become more like a hollow! He wanted to keep his sanity and his morals, he didn't want to become a mindless psychopath while he fought then turn around and constantly regret what he did the rest of the time.

"I don't want to become a psychopath when I fight, I don't want to become more like a hollow just to attain power" he said with conviction in his voice. He wouldn't stoop so low as to discard everything he believed in and fought for just to become stronger.

"**What I am suggesting is not to become more like a hollow, well not entirely. But to become more in tune with its raw instincts of survival in battle, without giving in to it and keeping your morals. So you would be able to see opportunities and form strategies that you would not see normally. Almost like a level two vizard, one with a greater understanding of both backgrounds."**

(_End Flashback_)

"A level two vizard you say huh?" he thought out loud.

The idea of becoming one with his hollow just rubbed him the wrong way, sure now that he thought about it he could see where the old man was coming from, how his fighting instincts along with the hollows instincts would allow him to see through any situation that he would probably find himself in. And the immense power with those reactions would be devastating as he saw against stark.

But he still had that element of fear, not of dying but of losing himself to his hollow and doing something that he would always regret. He always felt sick whenever he felt the overwhelming sense of blood lust coming from him, and the way he always handled things made him cringe.

Ichigo was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice a cloaked figure watching him from the shadows nearby.

The turmoil in the shinigami's head continued to rage on without a sign of ending anytime soon. What would he do if he were to give in and end up hurting one of his friends or worse his family, but at the same time he would need all of the strength possible to protect all of the people close to him. At what cost would he be able to attain the necessary power? Would he have to give up his morals and become a monster to save them? But then his family and friends might become more scared of him and he didn't think he could take that.

But then the image of Yoruichi's limp body battered, bruised and bleeding popped into his head and he began to tremble with uncontrollable rage.

"That happened all because I wasn't good enough to protect my family myself!" he said temper rising.

"I won't let that happen again!" he said quietly as he began to give into the idea. "I will become stronger and get the skills needed to stop that from ever happening again!" he yelled up to the night sky. He decided that he would learn what he could along the lines that old man Zangetsu had mentioned.

He was so focused on these thoughts that he didn't even notice the cloaked figure come up right behind him until he felt a pair of soft hands gently grab the tops of his shoulders and heard a soft voice say into his ear

"What are you getting worked up for now? Surely you're not that upset about what happened earlier?"

Ichigo nearly had a heart attack as he rolled forward and put a hand on Zangetsu ready to draw at any moment as he crouched facing whoever had snuck up on him. But he instantly relaxed again when he saw the dark skinned goddess standing there in a dark hooded cloak with a hand over her mouth trying to cover the fact that she was giggling at his reaction to her little joke. He felt slightly ashamed at his reaction.

"Don't do that I almost had a heart attack Yoruichi" he said as he turned and sat back down returning to looking up at the night sky.

"Well I thought you needed a little wakeup call seeing as you were starting to get real dark there for a moment and didn't even notice me come up behind you" she said playfully as she sat down next to him and also started to look at the starry night sky.

"I didn't know you would get that upset about what I said earlier? Although you should take that as a lesson for your lack of discretion. And also it was funny you have to admit I didn't expect Rukia to take action so quickly hahahaha" she said as another fit of giggles took over her.

"Oh that? Yea I'm sorry about that I don't know what happened. But that's not what I'm worried about" he said off handily while watching the flickering lights of the stars.

Yoruichi's laughter started to die down a little when he said that. "Really? Huh then what's got you all worked up?" she asked as she turned to look at him.

"I was thinking about yesterday" Ichigo said in a low voice

"Oh" Yoruichi instantly went quiet as all of the previous day's events passed through her mind again, but was surprised at the next words that came out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry, and thank you" he said just loud enough for her to hear

"What for" she asked genuinely confused

He turned to look at her and amber eyes locked with gold. She was slightly taken aback at the serious look in his soft brown eyes.

"You came to help me and my family when you don't even know them and I am truly grateful to you for that, but you got so injured because I couldn't look after them myself and couldn't stop you from ending up like that. For that I am sorry I wasn't strong enough" when he finished he looked away almost like he was ashamed.

"Oh is that all it's not that big a deal Kurasaki. I helped because they were people close to you and I just couldn't sit still while someone used young kids like that. And I got hurt because of my own decisions not because you failed in any way." she stated as she knew he was the type that liked to shoulder the weight themselves, and knew he would keep beating himself up if someone didn't step in quick.

He looked back at her again with that ashamed look as he said "But if I had been stronger then I would have been able to beat Stark right away and you wouldn't have ended up like you did"

'SLAP'

"Stop it Ichigo" she said in a sharp tone to cut him off before he went on to far.

"Stop what?" he asked slightly bewildered while nursing his stinging cheeck

"Stop blaming yourself Ichigo! I'm sorry for that but you need to realise that the whole world doesn't depend on you to protect it. I got hurt because I made a decision aware of how things could turn out, I wasn't the captain of the stealth squad in soul society just because of my looks you know." she said getting a little angry now

"Obviously there are things that I have to work on so that I don't end up like that again, I understand that and there are things that you will also need to work on so that you can look after you're family. But everyone doesn't count on you to protect them, we all work hard so that we can look after ourselves and help look out for each other's backs." she paused for a bit to see if it was sinking in. when he seemed to be thinking about it she continued

"You don't need to carry the whole burden on your shoulders alone; no one can handle that kind of load by themselves. You will just end up regretting not letting anyone in to help later when things get tough. So let us in, let me help ease your burden, we can get stronger together and get through this with everyone. So don't think you have to do this with your strength alone, I will be getting stronger to help you stand up against whatever comes if you will let me" Once she was finished she took a deep breath to calm herself again and watched as what she said was being processed in his mind.

However she was a little surprised when he started to laugh

"Hahahaha your right I was getting worked up over something silly. I can get through anything if I have you, Rukia, Renji and everyone looking out for me, man I really needed that I feel so much lighter right now" he said loudly then paused and slowly lifted his left arm up and draped it over Yoruichi's shoulder. Before she fully realised what was happening he gently pulled her towards him with her head resting against his chest. He then lent down and softly whispered into her soft hair "Thank you. I wouldn't want anyone else standing by me"

For a few seconds Yoruichi just stayed like that as what just happened was still being sorted in her head. But when everything sunk in her entire face went bright red rivalling a tomato and she quickly pushed herself from his embrace to put some distance between them and looked away to hide her blush

"W-wh-what was that for? Why would you do that?" she sputtered trying to hide her embarrassment but failing miserably.

He snickered at the embarrassed goddess "Duno just felt like it" he replied off handily as he looked back up at the stars.

The pair sat there in silence for a while just thinking and looking up at the night sky. Until Ichigo broke the silence

"Should we head back? The others are probably wondering what we are up to and you should get a bit more rest" he said as he slowly stood up and offered his hand to the dark skinned woman

"I'm more than fine but yea it might be a good idea, so we don't make them worry too much" she said as she reached up to pull on his hand.

With that the pair made their way back to the Urahara shop to find everyone in the dining room drinking tea and chatting while they waited. Not long after that Ichigo decided it was time he took off, he said his goodbyes to everyone and began to make his way home.

While Ichigo was making his way back home he thought back to what he did earlier, "wow that was unexpected, I've never done anything like that before" he said quietly to himself. "Why did I act like that with her and say those things to her?"

These thoughts kept coming up but he couldn't come up with an answer as to why he was acting that way so naturally. And why towards her, in the end he decided that it was just nerves from the day before still messing with his mind. But even if he said that he couldn't get the image of her looking at him with those captivating golden eyes, and a tinge of pink on her cheeks under the starry night sky out of his head. How her purple bangs framed her slender face and how a few stray strands hung down in front of her eyes, how he wanted to just brush them to the side and wanted to spend the whole night with her on that roof.

He kept struggling with these thoughts all the way home and into his room he couldn't understand why this was happening or why he felt really warm after she asked him to let her help him. He finally thought that after a good night's sleep he would be back to normal again, so with that he quickly jumped into bed and let blissful sleep claim him within minutes with a grin on his face.

* * *

The next day went just like any other Sunday would. Ichigo was woken up suddenly by his father in ways very unique to the Kurosaki household then he would have breakfast with his two younger sisters that seemed to have forgotten about yesterday, which he was glad about. After that he decided to make his way to the Urahara shop where the shinigami had all stayed for the night. When he arrived he was surprised to also see his human friends, Ishida, Chad and Orihime also present at the shop asking Yoruichi about their extra ordeal. They were all happy to see Ichigo fine and kicking although Ishida tried to hide his relief with some statement that he was glad he wouldn't be having to increase his work load, but this didn't faze the red head at all he wouldn't have it any other way.

He was also informed that a couple of their friends had been awake when the town had been moved for the battle with Aizen and had asked the three if they knew anything about it, but the three were able to convince them that they all had somehow had the same dream and that it must have been something they ate that had caused it.

After a while Rukia and Renji announced that they had to head back to soul society for a while to help out and make their reports on the events of the previous few days. After they left, Ichigo's friends all took their leave one by one as the day carried on. Eventually Ichigo was left alone with Urahara as Yoruichi had gone down to the basement for some light training.

The issue of his inner hollow had been bugging him all day and he wanted to get the former captains opinion on things

"Oi Urahara" he asked

"Hmmm?" the shop keeper responded

"During my fight with Stark when I was unconscious Zangetsu mentioned something interesting and I wanted to know your thoughts on it" he stated flatly

"Why not Kurosaki-kun, Hit me" Kisuke said now slightly interested from behind his fan

"Well he said that when I'm using my bankai and hollowfacation that I'm still not using my full power"

"Oh really and why does he say that?"

"He says I have to become more in tune with my hollow and that I am only using its raw power"

"Hmmmmmmm, so there is more to it than just siphoning its power? Is that what he's trying to say?" Kisuke asked now fully interested in the matter "Shouldn't you ask the vizard's about this, wouldn't they be more knowledgeable in this area?"

"Yea I thought about going to them but all they are about is making the hollow submit to me rather than anything else."

"This is true I guess. What else did Zangetsu say?"

"Well he said that to become a more efficient fighter that I need to become like a hollow and use those animalistic instincts and mix them in with my fighting style. But I don't want to become like my hollow, I don't want to be a psychotic killer like him and lose my mind when I fight. What if I hurt someone close to me while I'm out of it?" Ichigo said "What do you think I should do?"

Kisuke paused for a bit as he thought about what Ichigo had just said "Well for starters I can see where he is coming from with the instincts, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to become a full blown killer it just means that you have to train yourself to see some things in a different way when you fight. But really I can't help you much at the moment; this is something you have to find out yourself"

"How do I do that?" Ichigo asked. He was actually hoping for some better advice than that.

"Well you have to talk to your sword and your hollow and find out from them" Urahara said off handed

Ichigo wasn't too happy with that, he was hoping for a bit more guidance on how to approach this. So with that he decided to hit the road too

"Thanks Urahara i'll be heading off now" he said as he got up to leave.

"Take care Kurosaki-kun" the shop keeper said playfully. But as the substitute shinigami left he quietly said as he pulled the brim of his hat down in front of his face "I'm sorry Ichigo but you're at the level know where I can't teach you anything, you're venturing into uncharted waters now and you have to discover these things for yourself"

* * *

The next day at school was pretty typical for a Monday, people asked about Rukia and her absence and he would tell them that she was away on family business, then they asked if he had had the same weird dream as they had, but that was about the most interesting part of the day so far, the day just seemed to pass buy so slowly. The teacher was talking about some old writer in England or something but Ichigo wasn't really paying attention, he was trying to figure out what he should do about his hollow.

What was he going to do? Was he going to turn into a hollow in every aspect whenever he had to fight a strong opponent? Or would he be able to find a balance between the power and his sanity to protect his friends from whatever he needed to?

"**You wouldn't be able to handle my full potential king**" he heard that sickly echoing voice in his head

"What do you mean? I've already made you submit to me when I became a vizard what makes you think I can't handle this?" he said in his head to the hollow

"**Hahaha like I've said before, it's because you're too soft for your own good king. Yeah you got lucky and overpowered me once and you always go on about 'I have to protect my friends no matter what' but then it's always me who has to come out and finish the job for you when it comes down to the crunch." **the hollow explained as he appeared before Ichigo in his minds inner world.

"Because I'm not a cold blooded killer like you" Ichigo replied

"**No the truth is you aren't actually prepared to do what needs to be done to look after anyone, you're hoping for a world filled with rainbows and happy endings where you're enemy's will give up and surrender when you knock them down. Well I hate to break it to you king but that's not how it goes in reality, you need to be ready to do the dirty deed to protect the ones close to you. So until you have that kind of resolve don't even bother trying to come to me to try and learn how to use my strength because you're still going to fail no matter what" **Ichigo's hollow yelled out to the shinigami

Ichigo was a little shaken as he listened to what was being said, and it kept rattling him more and more the more he thought about it. Almost every time he had been in a pinch his hollow had come to save or help him.

During his fight with Byakuya, during his fight with Ulquiora, during his fight with Stark and that was only a few. He started to realize just how much he relied on his hollow.

"**You see it now don't you. I'm the reason you're here today.**" the hollow said

Ichigo couldn't believe it; he really did just depend on him and still thought he could save his important people. The images of his family and friends came to mind then stopped on Yoruichi battered and bruised "NO!" He was going to change; he was going to learn how to use his full strength on his own terms and not on anyone else's. That was his resolve

"Yes that may be the case up till now. BUT I will learn how to use you're powers efficiently without becoming like you in any way bastard, I will fight in my way not how you tell me" Ichigo declared loudly

"**Hah there you go again. You still saying that you can win with your own power, please you need to wake up king. Until you can find that resolve to really do whatever it takes to protect your friends and learn from me, good luck with not dying because if you go and die again I'm going to take over for much longer next time so be prepared." **Hollow said as he started to fade away again

Ichigo watched as he faded into the distance of his mindscape, then he suddenly came back to reality as he heard the bell for the end of class ringing. He shook his head and started too head out.

His mind was being plagued by the things his hollow had said to him, but when he couldn't take anymore his mind instantly drifted to a certain dark skinned women. Right now he was at lunch in the court yard sitting under a tree with Orihime, Ishida and Chad. 'I wonder what Yoruichi is up to now?' he thought vaguely

"What do you think Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked excitedly

"Huh? Sorry about what again?" Ichigo said while scratching the side of his face

"Were you even listening? Are you alright? We were saying that we should go to Sado-kuns bands big perform in a few months" she said with a slightly worried expression

"Sorry I had a few things on my mind but yea that sounds good. I'd like to see how good you really are ae big guy?" he said quickly. 'Why does she keep popping up in my head she's none of my business, he thought as the group continued their plans.

It was at this point when everyone started talking again that he just happened to hear two seniors talking as they walked by.

"Bro did you see that babe at the front gate?" one said

"That dark skinned one with the black out fit?" the other said almost drooling

"Yea what a stunner and apparently she's waiting for some guy from this school, man what I'd give to have someone like that waiting for me"

"I hear ya man she had one heck of a body and her eyes were almost cat like"

"Really? How close were you to see that?" the first one said shocked

The rest he couldn't hear as the two had walked too far away, but Ichigo suddenly thought 'nah it couldn't be her could it? But what would she be doing here even if it was her?'. He decided to go check it out as he got up.

"Sorry guys I've got something I need to check out quickly ill catch up with you in class" He said over his shoulder as he started to head for the front gate.

When he got there he found that there were a few groups of guys all goggling at a person leaning against one of the large concrete columns on the side of the gate. When he got closer he could see a tall women wearing tight black pants, she also had a form fitting plain white top with a small black leather jacket that only came down to above navel height. But when he saw the long purple hair in a pony tail he knew who it was, he was just wondering why she was there and just waiting at the front gate.

As he started to get closer Yoruichi looked up and when she spotted him she gave him a wave. As soon as everyone saw who she was waving at Ichigo felt the temperature around him drop suddenly as he felt many eyes on him and heard the odd comment like

"Lucky Prick"

"Hope he gets hit by a bus"

Aside from the fact that the negative energy was all aimed at him at that moment he felt pretty good having a girl like that waiting for him and was actually really surprised that one girl could cause such a reaction. But never mind that he needed to find out what the hell she was doing here.

"Hello I-chi-go so this is your school" she called out when he was about ten feet from her.

"Yea it is what are you doing here? Is something wrong?" Ichigo asked completely clueless as to what would bring her here

"Well last night Urahara told me that you needed some help with some training, so I've decided to help you out again with some basics that you desperately need. Such as sensing people's reiatsu and things along that line" Yoruichi said cheerfully while looking around the ginger at the school behind him ignoring all the males glaring at Ichigo's back.

"And you came all the way here during school just to tell me that? You couldn't wait till I came to the shop after school or called me?" Ichigo asked as he felt the temperature drop again.

"Well I had just finished an errand and I happened to have some time and I also thought it would be nice to see were you go to school, so I thought why not I'll give you a little test to see what we are dealing with but you couldn't even tell that I was here when I was pumping out just above a normal amount of reiatsu so we defiantly need to work on that" she explained

"Oh is that all?" Ichigo said slightly disgruntled at her reminding him of his shortcomings

Yoruichi then put on a sad face while she asked "What are you angry that I decided to come see you and tell you myself while you were at school? Am I not cool enough to be seen with in front of your friends?"

When Ichigo saw her looking like that a slight blush crossed his cheeks and he started to scratch the side of his face with his finger in one of his nervous habits "It's not that I'm angry it's just that I thought that you might be here for something more important. And I think it's more you're too cool to be seen with" he said quietly while turning to look at the groups of students paying close attention to him, not knowing what to do while she was making such a cute face.

When she saw this reaction she decided to mess with his head a little more. She turned her head to the side a little while looking down at the ground then clasped her hands behind her back and leant forward a fraction and started kicking some stones. All while keeping the sad face in place she said while slowly looking back up at him "So your saying that I'm not important at all, and that you think I'm too cool to be around you. Do you not like me that much?"

When Ichigo saw her looking like that his mind just shut down for a few moments, the only thing that was registering in his head was 'SOOOOOO CUTE!' So when he came back to reality he started sputtering out the first things that came to mind

"N-n-no I-it's defiantly not that I do like you and you are very important to me and I would really like to be with you, it's just I thought you might have come here because of something slightly more urgent that's all nothing against you at all". The words came out before he could stop himself and he watched in horror as she lifted one eyebrow when he was finished.

At that moment shock had claimed control of Yoruichi's body, then to hide her shock she began to laugh at his reaction "HAHAHA man Ichigo you're a laugh when you're nervous. I knew you were always entertaining, well have fun at school and I'll see you later on and be ready for your new training." she said as she turned and started to walk away still laughing, leaving the teen standing there still confused and horrified at what just happened there.

* * *

(Yoruichi)

When she had walked around the corner a blush that she had been fighting came rushing out with a vengeance as she thought about what he had just said. 'I do like you and you are very important to me, and I would really like to be with you.' then that odd warm feeling filled her chest again as those words kept playing through her mind.

"Dam you're too smooth for your own good Kurosaki Ichigo, I haven't felt like this for over a hundred years" she said as she walked back to the shop

* * *

(Ichigo)

Ichigo stood there for a few minutes still trying to piece together what had just happened completely ignoring the glares still aimed at him, until he was brought out of his thoughts when the bell signalling the end of the lunch break sounded and he headed back to class. As he was walking back the image of the dark skinned goddess looking at him in her pouting pose wouldn't leave his head no matter how hard he tried.

"Wow she is cute!" he thought out loud as he made his way back to the class rooms.

When he was walking back to class through the almost empty corridors, he heard someone call out to him

"Kurosaki!"

He turned to see Ishida walking up to him "What did Yoruichi want? Did something happen?" he asked

"Nah it's not anything like that, she just came to tell me about my new training. So did you see her at the gate too?" Ichigo said

"No we just felt her releasing a much larger amount of reiatsu than normal so we were all wondering what she was up too" Ishida said as he decided he had heard what he needed and stepped into the classroom.

Ichigo's spirits plummeted when he realised just how bad he was at feeling reiatsu and that he was the only one who hadn't noticed Yoruichi at all. 'Man I hope she can help me somehow' he thought as he slowly followed Ishida into class.

* * *

(Yoruichi)

Yoruichi was so distracted as she walked back to the shop that she unconsciously ignored Urahara her long time friend who was almost like her brother, who had started walking beside her on his way back from doing some shopping for the shop.

He was quietly laughing inwardly to himself at the far off look on his best friend's face that he had not seen for a very long time. But seeing this made him feel slightly relieved, he always felt guilty about her leaving soul society and everything she had going for her to help him and the vizard's all those years ago.

"Someone's in a good mood today" he said while trying to hide a chuckle when she jumped at his words.

"What are you talking about, I'm just thinking of ways to run young Kurosaki into the ground when our training starts" she said quickly

"Oh really so nothing special happened today?" he asked from behind his fan as they neared the shop.

"No not really on the way back I just happened to drop by Kurosaki's school to tell him that I would be helping him with some training again and to see what level he was at, and I was just a little curious to see where he went to school that's all" she said trying to wave him off "Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason really. It's just that you were so engrossed in whatever you were thinking about that you didn't even notice me beside you for five whole minutes. So naturally I thought that something pretty big must have happened since you haven't acted like this for over a hundred years. But if you say it's nothing" he trailed on as he entered the shop and started to walk down the hallway.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Yoruichi asked in a sceptic tone

"Nothing at all don't mind me Yoruichi-san" he called over his shoulder

"Oh really" she said, she was always sceptical about Urahara and his double meanings whenever he spoke. As she made her way down to the basement she failed to hear Urahara quietly say

"Look after him and don't let this one go".

* * *

(In Las Noches – Hueco Mundo)

Ichimaru Gin was walking down one of the many vast hallways in the massive castle that was Las Noches pondering over their most recent set back and the most costly set back at that one. This ordeal had just costed them eight of their ten espada, and each of their fraccion. Also on top of that Aizen had received a decent injury from that little shinigami brat who had caught him off guard. He could see why Aizen was so interested in him though he had broken through the barrier Aizen always has in place on the back of his neck with one attack, and the scary part was that he could only keep getting better at this rate.

But to him Aizen didn't seem too worried about that, he obviously had something else up his sleeve but what? Gin just couldn't quite see what he could possibly still have to keep him on the high ground.

Gin then stopped in front of a set of giant double doors that were at least eight meters high and five meters wide, this was one of the testing rooms. He turned then knocked twice and called out "Aizen-sama it is time"

When he opened the door he found the large room was only illuminated by candles littered around all of the edges of the hexagonal room. In the centre of the room was a small hooded figure kneeling on the ground taking in heavy breaths, all around the figure was a horrific scene of pools of blood, pieces of flesh and mangled bodies. On the right side of the room was Aizen sitting in a chair carved from stone with bandages covering his torso and right arm with a smug look on his face. He looked up from the panting figure to look at Gin.

A small chill ran down Gins spine at the smug look in Aizen's hardened brown eyes that were always calm and calculating as he spoke.

"Is it time already, very well" Aizen said slowly as he stood up and grabbed his white shirt and coat from the back of the chair. He then looked back down at the heaving figure "That is very good progress, I am very pleased, go get cleaned up and rest well we will continue again in a few days" he said in a warm fatherly tone that was obviously fake to those who truly knew what Aizen was like but it always worked very well.

With that he turned and headed for the door way while putting his clothing back on. As he past the former captain he said "Let's go meet the new recruits shall we?"

* * *

**So thats Chapter four guys i hope you liked it and let me know what you think**

**See ya!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright here is another one since i made you wait for so long but after this it will probably be one a month minimum**

**This is basiclly another fluff chapter but it should start getting good and under way soon so bare with me alright**

**Ok so hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.**

**Reminder**

"speech"

"**Speech from demon or none human entity**"

'thought'

(Flashback) ((Flashback within a flashback))

**

* * *

**

Chapter five

Training and Doubt

* * *

Basement under Urahara shop

(Ichigo)

Ichigo was standing hunched over from all of the bruises that were covering his body and completely blind to the rest of the world due to the blindfold he was wearing. As he started to catch his breath again he said "How did I get myself into this again?" to no one in particular as he dived forward into a roll to dodge a downward swing, then jumped up into the air to avoid a swing at his midsection. He didn't need to be told coz he knew the exact fatal mistakes he had made to lead to this point.

(_Flashback_)

After school had finished and he had come to grips with what he had said to Yoruichi at the front gate earlier that day, he was making his way to the shop alone as his friends were all busy for the rest of the day. He thought that she wouldn't think into what he said unconsciously too much because she was older and more experienced than him and royalty to top it off and she obviously had higher standards so she would think nothing of it.

This thought actually made him feel a little down without him realising it, so he decided to forget about that issue and focused on what kind of training was in store for him.

When he entered the shop and Urahara saw him the shop keeper straight away directed him to the unbelievably large basement that was constructed under the Urahara shop and probably the entire block that the shop was situated in. This was where he and his friends always trained so that they wouldn't be noticed by any passersby when they had to use their powers and abilities.

When he made his way down the long ladder into the large space that had boulders and craters in it he found Yoruichi sitting cross legged on top of a rather large boulder in her usual black skin tight body suit with a loose orange long sleeved shirt over the top, with her eyes closed. He took a quick moment to admire her beauty as he made his way to her. He tried to sneak as quietly as possible behind her to give her a fright, he managed to get right behind her and was about to grab her

When she said "I know you're there Ichigo you wouldn't be able to sneak up on anyone with the amount of reiatsu that is leaking from you constantly"

Ichigo huffed at his failed attempt to get the jump on her while she let out a small giggle and turned to look up at him.

"But don't worry too much that's why I'm here to teach you" she said with a smile that was on the verge of sadistic in Ichigo's opinion

"Alright then where do we start?" he asked slightly nervous now about the little evil glint in her eyes.

"Well I'm going to teach you to become more aware of reiatsu and how to control the amount that you constantly release. Because frankly you are absolutely appalling at both if you ask me" she stated

"Thanks for that I already knew that much" He said flatly "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Well first off I'm going to teach you how to sense and read reiatsu around you. Or else you are completely blind to the spiritual world and of any dangers around you. Once you get the hang of that you're control will follow pretty quickly after that." she explained to the shinigami

"Hey! I can sense when a hollow is in the general area that's alright isn't it" He said in his defence

"Ha yea sure you're lucky you can feel that, because like you they are naturally pumping out monstrous amounts of reiatsu. So if you couldn't feel that you may as well give up on this." she said as she crossed her arms

"So to teach you to have a better bearing on the world and feel of the reiatsu around you we are going to do a basic little exercise. But since it could take a long time I'm going to raise the stakes because you seem to perform well under pressure" the woman stated as she hoped off the boulder and walked into a clear area.

"Bring it on then" he said in a loud voice as he pressed his substitute badge to his chest and followed her in his shinigami form leaving his body on the boulder. He said that but he was getting nervous about what she might have in store for him. As he reached her he asked in a slightly sceptical voice "So what kind of exercise are we doing, and what kind of stakes are there?"

"It's very simple so you don't need to worry" she said as she pulled a blind fold from her pocket

"I'm going to put this blind fold on you and you are going to try and find me."

"That's it?" Ichigo asked thinking that this wasn't too bad, but he was still waiting for the catch

"Basically oh and I'll also be attacking you every now and again to heighten the risk" she added with a big grin

"And there it is" he said to no one in particular. "So basically you are going to beat me until I can feel your presence and find or evade you. Is that it?" not liking how this was sounding at all.

"Yes in a nut shell. But don't worry ill start easy on you and we will see how it goes" Yoruichi said in a sickly sweet tone as she handed him the cloth.

And that's how it started Ichigo was standing in the middle of the clearing trying his hardest to focus and tries to find any trace of the former stealth captain. As he was concentrating he thought he felt a tingling around his back but just as he was about to turn he felt a soft hand give him a slight tap on the back of his neck.

"Too slow Ichigo, I was expecting a little better than that." he heard quietly in his ear. "But that was just a practice run from now on it won't be a gentle tap" the voice said as it moved away.

He was a little disappointed too but he started to concentrate again, trying to find that familiar presence. Once again he thought he felt something followed by that tingling sensation on the left side of his stomach. But before he could react he felt a sharp jab hit him in the stomach and he hunched over as the wind was momentarily knocked out of his lungs. This continued on for some time, he would feel that tingle then he would get hit. He was slowly starting to react but he still couldn't really find her location.

"Come on Kurosaki you've done something like this before out of instinct, remember when Stark had you pinned" her voice said from somewhere in front of him.

He racked his brain trying to remember when then suddenly it came to him

((Flashback))

He had been shaking and releasing so much reiatsu in anger but then the reiatsu and tension abruptly stopped, and he seemed to be concentrating on something. His whole body seemed to relax ever so slightly his stance widened as he planted his feet just a bit more than shoulder width apart with a slight bend at the knees as he prepared for something, his breathing started to slow to a calm steady pace. A black energy begin to surround Zangetsu as he held him out in front in a ready stance, then as soon as a cero was fired from a boulder behind and to the right he released a getsuga tensho in a quick and controlled horizontal slash in the direction it came from.

((End Flashback))

"You remember don't you" he heard her call out from the left somewhere "you've already done it once before, you can do it again. Relax and feel your surroundings, feel the pressure of my reiatsu as it flows from me through the air." she said as she circled him.

He realised that she was right. He stopped and tried to clear his mind; he slowed his breathing and relaxed his body. He was trying to focus on finding any disturbances around him. As he waited suddenly he felt a slight push on the small of his back like a slight breeze as some object was pushing the air out of its way as it moved towards him, he rolled forward as he felt something rush over him where he had been standing a second ago.

"There we go very good Kurosaki now we can really get started. Remember that feeling, every reiatsu is unique eventually you will be able to tell the difference between them but for now let's keep on working on just feeling it. Now I'm gona lower my reiatsu to its usual level and we can start" she said to him happy that it didn't take him toooo long to get the first step.

After that Yoruichi was unrelenting in his perspective. She would come at him faster and harder but he just couldn't get a real feel for how far away the reiatsu was, so when he did feel it sometimes he would react when nothing was coming or he would react to late. But he was starting to get better because his body had had enough of being beaten and was starting to react on its own.

This carried on for a few days, after school Ichigo would head straight to the shop leaving his body under the care of Urahara as he headed down to the basement for his training where he would get beaten until he couldn't move anymore and would need to be taken home. It was on the fifth day that he started to really get the hang of feeling the reiatsu and reacting to it. He wasn't quite perfect but he was defiantly getting there.

"You're getting pretty good now Kurosaki" he heard the woman call out from behind him

"Well I had a pretty good teacher" he said as he jumped to the left to dodge a charge from behind then he had to duck and roll forward to avoid a high swipe then axe kick.

"Hmmm flattery won't help you at all, I'm not going to go easy on you" she said with a smirk as she watched him dodging almost effortlessly now compared to the rock he was a few days ago. It amazed her how much he had been able to improve in such a short time, it reminded her of how much his determination made you want to believe in him when she had helped him to reach his bankai level in a few days. A feat that normally took people years or even their entire lives to attain.

She couldn't help but smile at how he made her want to believe in him again. Also the fact that he had surpassed her expectations and had reached a level that was miles ahead of an average shinigami made her swell with more pride.

Yoruichi decided to end this and move on to the next test with this last move. She started to sprint straight for him head on but just before she got within arm's reach she flash stepped over and behind him. As soon as she landed she flash stepped towards him intending to hit him in the back of his left shoulder since he hadn't moved an inch since she charged at him.

But she was completely caught off guard when as soon as the tips of her fingers on her right hand were only millimetres from his body he suddenly twisted his body to the right and pivoted on the balls of his feet almost rolling along her out stretched arm as she moved forward, then pivoted again so he was behind her where he quickly wrapped his arms around her with her arms pinned across her chest and pulled her into him tightly, all within a split second.

She was utterly dumbfounded at what he had just done

But then he gently rested his head against the back of hers and slowly said into the back of her neck with his husky voice as he gave her a little squeeze

"I found you"

A chill ran down her spine and then back up again. Her whole body was covered in goose bumps as she felt his breath on her skin while he held her. When he gave her a squeeze it felt like a bunch of butterflies had run rampant in her stomach, she was glad that he was behind her and blind folded as he wouldn't be able to see the blush that had totally engulfed her face rivalling the reddest tomato in the world. But she was pretty sure that her heart beating against her chest at a hundred miles an hour had already given her away.

But as suddenly as it had happened it came to an end as he let go and fell flat on the ground sucking in great gulps of air into his exhausted body. She almost protested but quickly stopped herself when he let go, and just stood rooted to the spot for a few seconds until she heard behind her

"What's the matter... I thought that you weren't going to go easy... on me?" he said between deep breaths.

"Well you got a lucky break today Kurosaki" she said still facing away from him

"Awwww maaaaan and I thought I had just done something cool" he said with a playful pout as he lifted the blind fold from his eyes to look up at his teacher.

When the stunned woman had come back to her senses she turned to look at the boy still panting on his back now looking up at her "You did good Kurosaki I think you're ready to move onto the next step. But that can wait for tomorrow" she said as she sat down on a nearby boulder

"SAY WHAT? There's more to this?" he said feeling like this step had been hard enough.

"Yes, you've gotten the hang of feeling my reiatsu but now you need to be able differentiate between different peoples reiatsu." she told him

"Okay so how are we gonna do that?" he asked even though he thought he had a pretty good idea of what she was thinking already and he hoped that he was wrong.

"You'll find out tomorrow. You've done enough for today so go home and get a good rest and since you don't have school tomorrow you can come over earlier okay" she said as she gave him a smile

"But I can keep going I've still got energy..." he started to protest but stopped when she just looked at him with that smile while she shook her head slightly. He couldn't really argue with her when she looked at him like that. So he slowly got up and started to make his way back to the shop. "See ya later then Yoruichi and thanks" he called over his shoulder as he headed out

Yoruichi gave him a small wave as he walked away. She still couldn't believe it; he had completely blown her away with that last trick. He had gone past the level of a seated officer with his senses and reflexes and was now at a level that rivalled that of a captain. He was just full of surprises but now she wanted to see how he did tomorrow.

The next morning when he turned up his fears were confirmed when he entered the basement and saw the younger kids that lived with Urahara. Ururu and Jinta both accompanying Yoruichi both wielding very hard looking bats.

"Hahaha so is this how you were going to teach me to differentiate between reiatsu" Ichigo asked getting more and more nervous.

"Yup aren't you a smart cookie" Yoruichi said in a sweet tone that really didn't make him feel any better whatsoever at that moment. "You've grown used to feeling and judging my reiatsu, but now you have to be able to do the same with multiple reiatsu at the same time. So the same rules as before apply just with a few more players" she stated

"Don't worry Urahara told us that you wanted a challenge so ill make sure to go all out" the small boy known as Jinta said while he swung his large ominous looking bat around

"He did ae? I will have to make sure to thank him properly after this" Ichigo said through gritted teeth

"I will try my best to help you improve" the shy looking girl known as Ururu said while she bowed.

That's what he was really worried about, she may look like a weak, innocent little girl on the outside but he knew all too well about this girls inhuman strength and speed from when he had trained with Urahara to get his powers back. He was just hoping that he would live to see the next day.

"Haha thanks for that guys" he said nervously "I don't have to wear the blind fold this time though right?" he asked hopefully even though he already knew the answer

"Of course you do or that would defeat the purpose of this exercise now wouldn't it Ichigo" Yoruichi said in a very happy way.

'Hahaha of course why didn't he think of that'? At that moment he knew that he would die in this basement, and the way she was talking told him that she was enjoying this too much.

'This must be revenge for the other day?' he thought as he was handed the blind fold and she gave him a little wink.

"Yup defiantly revenge" he said quietly to himself as she walked away.

(End flashback)

When he landed he winced as his chest was jolted and pain shot through his body instantly. He figured that he must have two or three broken or at least cracked ribs. This was from when he learnt very quickly what to feel for to find the two kids with bats after taking three or four big blows to the chest.

He had been going for about two hours into the second day but to him it felt like he had been going for months on end. The rate that the three kept coming at him was back breaking literally. He was doing pretty good but he would still get the odd occasion where two of them would come at him at once then he wouldn't be able to judge both of their distances accurately and he would end up being nicked by a bat or one of Yoruichi's blows which still hurt like hell even if it was a glancing blow.

Again he felt a pressure coming towards his back so he jumped to the side to evade just as he heard a great crash as a bat made contact with the ground in a very solid way. He cringed as the thought of what that would do to him if it connected squarely, made his stomach turn.

He then noticed that one of the three pressures in the room had disappeared, he thought that this might be Yoruichi trying to confuse him. But because he was so focused on trying to locate the missing reiatsu, he only just realised the sensation above him in time to avoid receiving a direct hit to the head but he lost the feeling in his left arm as the bat grazed his shoulder on the way down.

As he recovered from his roll he suddenly tensed as he felt a flicker of the missing presence right behind him, he was about to spin around to jump back but he reacted too late as he felt something warm press against him and two hands gently grab him, one under his chin and one on the back of his head ready to snap his neck at anytime.

He suddenly thought that this was very similar to something for some reason until

"Gotcha" he heard a soft voice purr into his ear which sent shivers all through his body as the warm breath brushed the skin under his left ear.

"No fair you hid your reiatsu" he said in a childish accusation

"That's for the other day" he heard the woman behind him say as she removed her hands from his head.

"I knew this had to be revenge or something" he said as he turned his head and lifted the blind fold to look at his captor.

As he turned golden eyes locked with amber and the surrounding world seemed to disappear. The only other person in this world at the moment as far as Ichigo was concerned was this person right behind him.

A blush tinged his lightly tanned cheeks as he realised how close he was to her. He just stood there being drawn in more and more by Yoruichi's captivating eyes and flawless sun kissed skin, he noticed a ting of pink starting to colour her cheeks slowly getting darker and darker. He took in her scent which was a mix of vanilla and cinnamon which only helped to further entrance him in the spell the goddess had cast on him. He started to turn his body slowly and wrapped his arm around her waist as he continued to take her in, his eyes then suddenly fell upon her lips, those small, soft, inviting looking lips.

As all of these thoughts were rushing through his mind he failed to notice the two younger kids standing right next to them until

"UMM excuse me?" he heard a small voice say next to them and as soon as that happened he snapped out of his daze and quickly released the girl in his arms and jumped back putting some distance between them. It was at this point that Yoruichi seemed to realise what had just happened and went beetroot red.

"U-um very good work Ichigo I think you have developed enough at this point to stop there" she said while looking away from the young man.

"What? Is that it? I was just starting to get into it you know" Jinta protested very loudly

"Yes that may be the case but if young Kurosaki-kun takes much more his body won't be able to handle It." they heard from the direction of the entrance

The group turned to find Urahara making his way towards them.

"Now Jinta, Ururu you two go get cleaned up and help Tessai get what he needs ready to fix Kurosaki-kun up" he said as he drew nearer

"Hai" the young girl said as she grabbed Jinta's arm and started running to the entrance.

"Now you two let's keep it PG around the younger ones alright. And also maybe wait till later since Kurosaki's body here doesn't look like it can do much more than stand" Kisuke said in teasing tone to the embarrassed pair.

Until this point Ichigo whose body was still running on adrenaline and had been so focused on his little moment that he had totally forgotten about his injuries. But as soon as Urahara had mentioned the state of his body all of the pain came rushing back to him in a wave and he fell in a crumpled heap as he passed out from the overload to his brain and exhaustion his body was suffering.

"Well seems even that's too much for him. That was convenient wasn't it" Kisuke said through a chuckle as he looked back at the still flustered Yoruichi.

* * *

(Yoruichi)

She couldn't answer right away because her mind was still whirling around at million miles an hour for her to actually concentrate on giving Urahara a direct answer. She just looked down at the limp form of Ichigo in a heap on the ground out of the corner of her eye, as she kept replaying the image of the teen looking at her in that way in her mind.

"Wow you Yoruichi Shihoin left speechless, he must have really done a number on you" Urahara sang out while kneeling down and carefully moving the red heads body into a much more comfortable position.

"What do you mean by that?" Yoruichi asked as the daze began to wear off and she regained the ability to think clearly again.

"Well in the hundred and eighty years that I have known you, I have only seen you act like this once before and that was just over a hundred years ago. But never this bad" He explained while inspecting the state of Ichigo's body. He then paused and smiled to himself.

"Oh shut up you delusional idiot" she breathed out as the weeks exercise started to catch up with her as well.

"From the looks of things it doesn't seem like you took it easy on him?" Urahara said in a matter of fact tone

Yoruichi let out a little chuckle "Well you know what he's like, he just doesn't learn unless you beat it into him"

"Yes but did you necessarily have to actually beat it into him?" Urahara asked slightly worried about the young shinigami as he looked at the amount of damage he had taken

"You're one to talk, telling Jinta and Ururu that Ichigo wanted them to use their full strength so that he could really test himself" she said as she crossed her arms and stared down at the shop keeper

"Oh did I really say that to them. My mistake I must have been caught up in the moment." He said as he scratched the back of his head

"Uhuh sure anyways I knew he'd be able to handle it and you know what he's like, he thrives under pressure" she said proudly as if she were showing off a trophy.

"Hahaha that's true" but he was actually surprised that the young boy had actually held together as long as he had, the amounts of cuts, bruises and immense swelling that covered his body was shocking. He wouldn't be surprised if he had a couple of broken ribs and a few fractures here and there.

"So what do you think? How did he do?" Urahara asked getting serious again

"To be honest I was sceptical at first but he completely blew me away with his progress. At first I thought that he was around the level of a seated officer in the Gotei thirteen but now I believe that he could easily rival a captain's ability. I didn't really need to do this last session but I wanted to see how far he could go, and he was still able to partially sense me nearby while I hid my reiatsu" she said very proudly

"Is that so? Well that's just like him, he never fails to impress." he said but he also was quite aware of his motivations that helped him to develop so much. He just hoped that Ichigo didn't lose sight of his original goals because of it.

But he felt a weight lifting off his shoulders as he heard his friend talking so passionately about the teen's abilities. He was truly relieved that she had something to believe in and to be proud of again. For a few years he knew that she would never show it, but he could feel her losing her fighting spirit. But now she had something to rekindle the dying flame and he was truly happy for her.

"You know to be honest I'm happy for you" he said quietly

"And why would that be?" she asked as her sharp ears faintly picked up what he had said but not quite able to follow the lone comment.

"Oh well I know it was you're decision too. But I always felt guilty after you helped me and the vizard's escape from soul society, the way you picked up and left everything you had going for you behind. I never thought I would be able to see you like this again with something to fight and strive for. And for that I'm happy" he explained and as he finished he turned to look up at her with a mix of genuine relief and joy in his eyes

Yoruichi was slightly taken aback at his last comment and the emotions that he only showed on rare occasions.

When Urahara had let her in on his thoughts an image of a pair of piercing green eyes with a few long thin strands of dark hair blowing around threatening to hide them from the world appeared in her mind. As the image began to fade she felt a light pull at her chest, and a small feeling of regret engulfed her for a split second.

"Hahaha you and you're silly talk, I never know what you're quite thinking in that head of yours. Anyways I'm just going to go out for some air" she said as she began to head for the exit.

"I guess I have something else that I owe you for now Kurosaki Ichigo" Urahara quietly told the unconscious figure in front of him as Yoruichi walked away. "Thank you and look after her okay"

As Yoruichi exited the basement, she walked straight past Tessai, down the hallway and out the front entrance of the shop. She didn't know where she was headed, she just started running. When she reached the corner she leapt up on the fence then up on to the roof of the next small building and away she went invisible to the physical world. She had to do something to help her get her head right, because at that moment she didn't know what to do.

So many things were rushing through her mind, Urahara's comments rushed back and she started to think of all the things she had left behind. Her family, her squad, her friends, her assistant Soi Fon then those green eyes. She almost missed a step as they flashed in front of her.

"Dam it those eyes still playing tricks on my mind even after so long" she cursed as she regained her footing

But another image followed right after that. Green eyes staring intently at her with long locks of dark hair dangling in front of them and a thin scar next to the left eye trailing down along the well tanned cheek finishing just above the jaw line. The sensation of two well trained arms wrapping around and gently pulling her in to them. A sense of calm and excitement fluttering through her body

Then the image changed slightly

Piercing green eyes changed to warm amber, neat black hair became messy and orange and instead of a scar there was blood and dirt smudged across the cheeks. The once gentle embrace was now a pair of arms desperately clutching her close as if she would disappear if they were to ease up even a little, and a feeling of relief and belonging washed over her.

When the image had suddenly changed she stopped running and shook her head to try and clear it again. She looked around a bit and found that she had stopped in the middle of a park in front of a pair of swings and the sky was slowly beginning to be consumed by the darkness of the night. No matter what she did she just couldn't get a grip, as questions and images kept bombarding her over and over again.

The feelings that she thought she had pushed away a hundred years ago and the seeds of these new feelings blossoming. Both raging a war for dominance in her heart and mind. She didn't know what to do, forget the past and move on to a new future or go back and start things anew. But she didn't even know how things stood with her past. Had her actions destroyed any chances or was there still an ember there just waiting for some new fuel. But what about the potential of the present that was looking as if it would mature into something amazing right in front of her. She just couldn't get her head straight.

Why was this happening to her? She had always been known for her cool head even in tough situations. But now she couldn't even keep one train of thought for more than five seconds then it would be abruptly interrupted by another.

This kept going on for a few minutes until she felt a slight tingle in her body as she sensed that she was being watched by something. Her mind instantly cleared of any distractions by the potential threat nearby. But whatever it was, it was very good at hiding its reiatsu so most likely not a human or hollow.

Her body tensed as it automatically prepared for any attack that could come her way. She searched the surrounding area with all of her senses. She looked around the clearing for any out of place objects or movement. She took in deep breaths through her nose to pick up any out of place smell, she was also listening for any noises that could be made by movement as well as trying to sense for the slightest flicker of reiatsu in the area. But all of her searching gave her no results, whoever this was; they were a master in the art of stealth. But the unsettling thing was that there were only a few that would actually be on par or better than herself and they were all amazingly strong.

As she continued to search for the potential threat she heard a wisp and felt the hair from her pony tail move in a breeze as something passed through the air just behind her. She quickly spun around as she jumped back to put space between her and her would be attacker.

But she was completely thrown off as she looked around to find a small flower rather than a person sitting on the swing a few feet in front of her. She was still sceptical until she felt the presence slowly fading away and her body started to relax more and more as the feeling became weaker and weaker.

Once she was fully confident that the threat was gone she looked back at the flower on the ground. Yoruichi sceptically inched closer to the discarded flower unsure if it was trust worthy or not. But as she drew closer she saw that it was a lotus and her heart skipped a beat.

"No way, he wouldn't" she said to herself as a memory that she had locked away suddenly resurfaced.

(Flashback)

Yoruichi Shihoin was finally enjoying her first 'official' day off in quite some time. She had been swamped with so many job requests and applications that kept coming to the newly reformed secret tactics squad or also known as the Special Forces squad. (Combination of -Gotei 13 2ndsquad- and the -omnitsukido- after Yoruichi became commander). She just hadn't had any proper time to just relax and forget about work for a day at least. But that day had just come and she was going to take full advantage of it, she wasn't going to let work interrupt in any way.

So she decided she would head home for once and visit her parents back in the first six noble family area of soul society. This was an area sealed off except for people who were allowed to enter; those people consisted of nobles and the captain commander himself. Other than that entry was only possible if you were closely acquainted with one of the families, invited by a noble or if you had the entire kido corps try to break the barrier. She felt pretty confident that work wouldn't be able to reach her through that.

She was now in the main court yard of the Shihoin estate, which was the size of half a football field filled with a lavish garden. A small stream about two meters wide weaved itself through the centre and had a couple of small wooden arched bridges crossing over it with cherry trees and many other various fruit trees scattered all over one half of the garden. Small stone paths weaved their way around the trees. The majority of the space on the other side was filled with plain grass and a large cobbled walkway running from the bridges to the exits. But along the entire perimeter save a few allocated spaces for entry and exit was a thin flower bed that was filled with many different vibrant coloured flowers that just added to the calming effect of the private little meadow.

This was all enclosed by an open japans style walkway surrounding it that expanded out into the Shihoin estate. This was the only part that she actually liked of the entire Shihoin estate that would eventually be passed on to her. Shortly after becoming the commander of the new second squad in the Gotei 13 she had also been named the twenty second head of the Shihoin family, meaning that this overly large estate would belong to her.

Yoruichi was laying under the biggest cherry tree looking up at the sun through the leaves above and listening to the sound of the water running past her, simply enjoying the peace. But she was rudely interrupted when someone called out breaking the peaceful atmosphere.

"Is this how the Omnitsukido commander should be spending her time?" a male voice said in the distance

"Probably not but does it look like I care too much? Anyway it's my day off so I don't have to worry either way" she said without looking to see the approaching person draw nearer.

"Oh is that right, then it would be alright for me to join you without being offered a place in the second squad" he said as he began to laugh while sitting next to Yoruichi.

"Hahahaha you don't need to worry, Soi Fon isn't anywhere near here Kat" she said as she finally turned her head to look over at the invader.

The man sitting against the tree in front of her was Yasuhiro Katsuro her teacher and friend. This man was the eldest child in the Yasuhiro family, which was the highest ranking noble family outside of the first six. Unofficially he was the leading expert in stealth tactics and one of the leaders in hand to hand combat in soul society. He had also been the one to teach Yoruichi everything she knew about martial arts, kido and the stealth arts and still helped her train every now and again.

Katsuro was also the one who had nominated her and urged her to become the commander of the second squad. He was still years in front of her in the sense of ability and experience but she was slowly catching up to him.

This is why he would receive constant requests for him to join the secret tactics squad from Yoruichi's assistant Soi Fon. But each time he would deny the offer as he enjoyed just being a part time unseated officer in the Gotei thirteen. Which allowed him to do as he pleased most of the time and take perk jobs that Yoruichi would hand to him from time to time.

He had brilliant emerald green eyes that stood out against his tanned skin and long locks of dark hair that hung about an inch above his shoulders and framed his face. He had a thin scar that started beside his left eye and ran down over his high cheek bones and ended just above his jaw line. He had broad toned shoulders and a medium build. He was just a bit taller than her and like her he had a very playful side to him but it was hidden behind a mask that held an almost constant blank expression except for when he was around the people he felt comfortable with.

"Well that's a relief Yoruichi-sama" he stated in a playful tone.

"Aww and I thought you had the hots for her and just liked to turn her down so that you could watch her get flustered." the woman said as she started to laugh at the image of her assistants reactions.

"Hmmmmm well she is kind of cute especially when she gets worked up, but that's not exactly it" he said as he let out his own little chuckle.

"Awww so much for my intuition huh?" she said as she pouted for a second

"You always end up in a mess whenever you tried to trust your intuition Yoruichi" he replied while looking over at the nearby flower bed.

"That was only a couple of times and anyone could have made those mistakes" she said in her defence

"Uhuh. Yea so anyone would mistake an old woman's shaved Chiuaua to be a hollow in disguise" he asked sceptically

"Hey that thing was evil and it tried to get me, it just screamed hollow waiting to get the jump on me" she said loudly as she sat up

"Yea yea whatever you say. You are the only person it ever reacted to"

"Shut up" she said as she tried to forget those embarrassing first few months of her training years ago. "So what brings you here anyway? I'm sure you didn't come just to tease me about the past." she added

"Well that would be very entertaining for a long time, but I thought it would be nice to come say high and see how you were doing" he said while an infantesamil hint of a blush tinged his cheeks. "And what's with that look?" he said as he looked at Yoruichi with a very sceptic look on her face.

"Really? Because you usually only come over if you have business with my father or to train." she said while trying to search him for any trace of a lie, but failing

"Ouch how could you say that after all these years" he said with a mock hurt face

"Well if you are here for what you say you are then... Hello, how have you been Kat?" she said with a very soft tone as her features softened.

"Hahaha now that was a quick change their Yoruichi" Katsuro said cheerfully

"You got a problem with that?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

"No I wouldn't want you any other way" he said as he got up and walked over to the flower bed.

"What?" she asked confused as she watched him pick something from the garden and come back to kneel down in front of her. She saw that he had a bright pink lotus cupped in his hands

He just looked into her eyes for a while before he spoke.

"I was just thinking with the whole disappearances of shinigami lately and all, that I should come clean to you just in case something happens and I never get the chance." as he said this he only continued to stare at her

The young commander was beginning to get nervous about where he could be headed with this, it almost sounded as if he knew that something horrible was about to happen, but she said nothing and waited

"Well we've been close for a long time now right? And I truly feel comfortable with you and I am sure that you are the person who I feel I can confide in and trust in the most in any situation. I have always thought that you were amazing. Ever since I first started to teach you I have found you amazing in all aspects." he paused to see if she was still following, when it seemed like she was he continued.

"I have always thought that you were and still have so much potential and so many more big things in store for you. And I also feel that you are the one person who could truly understand me. So what I am basically saying is" he took a deep breath while he calmed himself and went for it

"I love you... and have for many years now but I have always been too scared to tell you the truth. When I was training with you I felt somewhat complete in a way and always thoroughly enjoyed myself. You would always make my heart throb with your smile and caring nature. So much so that when it came to an end my days became dull and painful as if my heart would lose strength to go on without you, now the only thing I look forward to is when you call me for a job or when I am able to train with you. Anything to see you so that I can see that smile of yours."

Yoruichi was completely and utterly shocked she had been expecting something totally different to what was coming out of his mouth and was too stunned to say anything so she just kept listening.

"In other words I need you Yoruichi because when I'm with you I feel I have a purpose in this world, you make me want to improve myself more and more just to try and make you proud of me. I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to you so let me protect you and that smile that I love from the dangers of the world everyday by accepting my hand in marriage." he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring.

The ring was white gold with two diamonds imbedded within the band of metal on either side of a large topaz stone that was slightly wider than the ring.

This was a little much for her at the moment, sure she had always had a crush on the man and whenever he stared at her he always made her a little weak at the knees but this was a little sudden. She had hardly even seen him lately and he all of a sudden laid this all on her. She needed some time to sort this out, but at that moment all she was able to physically say was

"W-wh- a wha- eh- uh- wh- ahh" everything that was coming out of her mouth was completely un intelligible.

He looked at her reaction and smiled. "I know this is very sudden and out of the blue but this is truly how I feel and you would make me so happy. But I will give you this for now and I will let you think about it, but I would like to have an answer within a few days." he said as he gently grabbed her hand and slipped on the gorgeous ring.

"Also will leave this with you while you decide, did you know that one of the lotus's meanings is mystery, purity and truth. Let that be a reminder of me to you, my life is a complete mystery covered by a mask but only you know the true me" he said this as he put the flower on her lap and gave her hand a kiss. Then he walked away and out of the court yard.

Yoruichi was still completely confused about what had just happened. On one hand she was so happy that the man that she had feelings for felt same way, but on the other hand she was a little scared and confused for some reason. She just sat there looking at the ring and the flower that he had given her with a smile on her face as everything rushed through her head.

(End flashback)

As she came out of her day dream she felt very warm and her heart was still pounding at a million miles an hour. She then looked at the flower and thought that all her chances were probably gone as a wave of regret washed over her because the day after was when Urahara was being falsely trialled for the experimentation of hollowfacation on shinigami and she had helped him escape to the world of the living.

But a wisp of hope started to creep through her body as she thought that if this flower was here in front of her then that might mean that she may not be on bad terms with her old master.

As she thought this she started to feel much better and decided that it was time to head back to the shop.

* * *

(Hueco Mundo – Las Noches)

(Aizen)

Aizen was sitting in his personal quarters looking out from his balcony out across the dark baron sand dunes that seemed to stretch on forever, thinking about how well his recruiting for new espada had gone. He couldn't have asked for better results, but he was brought from his thoughts as he heard a knock at his door followed by it being pushed open by his second in command Ichimaru Gin.

"What is it Gin?" he asked while looking over his shoulder

"You have a certain guest Aizen-sama" Gin replied

"Ohh and who is this certain guest?" Aizen asked becoming a little curious

"Our connection" was all that was needed to tell him who it was that was here

"Well then let him in we can't leave our guest waiting now can we" he said as he moved to a nearby chair and sat down

When he said that, a cloaked figure appeared behind Gin then seemed to glide across the floor and then kneeled in front of the Aizen.

"Well now do you have any good news to give me?" Aizen said as he wondered why this person was here now.

"Yes I believe I will be able to begin our operation in the near future. And I believe that I may have a way to partially disable the target making it easier for capture." he said in a smug tone that told Aizen that he was rather confident about this

"Hmm sounds promising. I'm hoping for some good news when I see you again then" he replied in his calculating tone. As the cloaked figure nodded and made a hasty exit.

"What do you think Aizen? Think he'll be able to pull it off" Gin asked as the figure disappeared down the hallway.

"Oh we'll see, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high" he stated as he turned to look back over the distant dunes.

"But then why are you letting him do that? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to you for him to keep a low profile?" Gin asked not able to follow Aizen's logic

"Sometimes you just need a little excitement every now and again to keep things moving in your favour, even if it doesn't look that way" he said as a smile began to pull at the corner of his mouth.

* * *

**And there you have it chapter five I wonder what she wants to do now. and who is this connection well find out soon stay tuned for next time**

**Hope you enjoyed it let me know what you thought and im always open for suggestions so if you have any feel free to tell me**

**Until next time BYE BYE**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well I'm back again. I had a bit of free time so i decided to bust this chapter out, so I hope that it's up to standard and that you enjoy.**

(Name) = main point of view

(Flashback) = Flashback

"Speech" 'Thought'

**Hope you enjoy so here it goes.**

**

* * *

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Chapter 6

(Urahara)

He was doing a final inspection of Ichigo after Tessai had healed the majority of the boys' injuries with kido. Nothing could really be done about the broken ribs at the moment. The majority of the other injuries had been taken care of, but there was still going to be some nasty bruises in some areas. Around the ribs and his legs were the main effected areas while the rest of his body was in pretty good shape considering what he had just been through.

Again Urahara was amazed at what this boy could handle, and he thought that he still had a long way to go until he reached his peek. But he wasn't too focused on that right now, he was still in high spirits about his friend being able to find something to take up her time and to be proud of once again.

Suddenly his body tensed a little bit as he felt a presence that he knew from long ago in the distance. At first he didn't think it was anything but when he focused on it he was pretty sure he knew what it was. But he was also a little surprised that this person would actually be here now, but he couldn't ignore it because he was pretty certain that this feeling had to be him.

Even though the person was hiding their reiatsu he knew exactly what to look for with this particular case. He had never gotten along with him and whenever this man was locked onto something he could just feel a chill in the air and the feeling of an empty space devoid of anything somewhere made the back of his neck tingle.

This person was so good at hiding his reiatsu that he could make it feel as if there was an empty void in his place. Almost as if he was also concealing the natural reiatsu in the atmosphere that lingered around his body, but you would only notice this if you knew what to look for. He thought that this method was rather effective because most people would be searching for any flickers of reiatsu to confirm that there is a presence, rather than looking for the opposite and feeling for an empty space. He really didn't have a good feeling about this as he felt it nearby, and also very close to where he could feel Yoruichi.

"What's going on Yoruichi?" he asked himself quietly as he kept probing for any changes to either presence.

Eventually the void began to move further away and he was able to relax a little. However he couldn't fully relax because he wanted to know what had happened, but he decided that he would just wait until she came back. Just in case it was actually nothing

He knew that Yoruichi was more than capable of protecting herself. But there were things in this world that even she wouldn't be able to stand up against under normal circumstances. And if he was right this person was right near the top of that list of people and not just because of his skill either.

"Great timing there Kurosaki, you couldn't have held out for another half an hour?" he said as a half-hearted joke to the unconscious teen.

But all he could do now was wait and see what happened when she came back.

It was about twenty minutes later when Yoruichi walked casually through the front door of the small sweets store with a smile on her face. Urahara who was sitting crossed legged at the entrance of the main corridor wasn't completely sure if he should be happy or worried about this smile. So as she was about to walk past him he had to ask what had happened.

"You feeling ok Yoruichi?" he said as he looked up at her.

"Yeah I'm great, I was really able to clear my head but I'm a little tired now from the training." she replied casually.

"Is that so? That training really got you thinking did it?" he asked while raising his fan slightly until it was just below his chin.

"Yea you could say that, the potential is a little mind blowing so I just had to get my head straight again." she then ran her hand through her hair and Urahara was able to see a lotus flower in her left hand.

He was a little curious as to why she had it. He had to confirm it, even though he already had a pretty good idea.

"Oh that's a nice flower. Why do you have that? Did you happen to meet anyone while you were out on your walk?" he asked as he brought his fan up to cover the lower half of his face.

"No not really although I thought there might have been someone around but I couldn't find them. Oh yea this flower is nice I just happened to find it on a swing in the park and thought it was too nice to leave there." she said while looking down at the pink flower in her hand.

That was one of the possible scenarios he thought might have occurred, but he was a little confused as to 'why now?'

"Oh that's nice. Well then you should probably go get some rest, you must be pretty tired after this week's training with Ichigo. And we will take him back home soon." he said while slowly getting back up to head down the hall.

"Oh? How is our substitute shinigami doing anyway?" she said as if she had only just remembered who she had been with all week.

The way in which she had asked made Urahara pause for a second with very mild shock as he looked back over his shoulder at her. 'What was going on in that girls mind?' he thought.

"He's pretty beat up but he'll live to see another day. But I would say that it's a good thing you stopped when you did. Because if he had taken much more I fear he may have suffered some serious long term damage" Urahara said as he carefully pivoted on the spot to face Yoruichi and pulled his fan up to his face again while looking at the woman.

"Was it really that bad? Wow. I'm glad that he's a tough one or that could have been ugly, but he is stable now right?" she said a little concern and a touch of guilt showing on her features.

"Yes he should be fine after a good night's sleep. So there is no need to worry" he said as he started to walk towards the room Ichigo was resting in.

"Well I'm relieved about that. Which room is he in?" she asked while following Kisuke.

"This one." he said while sliding a door to his left open to see Ichigo on a futon resting. But it looked as if he might be slowly starting to stir.

Urahara studied her expression and watched as Yoruichi knelt down next to Ichigo taking in his appearance. He could see a little worry as she looked over the injuries, and then he saw a small smile appear on her face. He thought that she must be relieved or proud that he had made it through in a week. Then Ichigo let out a small groan that sounded something like "Yoruichi" and shifted his head, Ichigo's whole body tensed for a moment then relaxed again.

When Ichigo was still again he thought he saw pain and confusion cross her features for only a second before Ichigo started to really wake.

'What's going through your head right now Yoruichi?' he thought as the young shinigami half opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.

* * *

(Ichigo)

Ichigo was having an amazing dream at that moment. He was in a bright and vibrant garden filled with many fruit trees that had a stream running down the middle. He was resting propped up against a large apple tree and surrounded by lush green grass. He was very tired for some reason but he couldn't quite remember why, all he cared about was relaxing in the beautiful garden that he had found himself in.

His eyes slowly fell shut as he gave into the fatigue and he was consumed by darkness for a moment. But when he opened them again he was startled to find a pair of golden eyes staring into his. It actually took him a few seconds before he was able to pull his eyes away and look at the rest of the body that the eyes belonged to. So when he finally did look around he found he was still in the garden with Yoruichi down on all fours wearing only a tank top and boy shorts leaning in close to him, her face only inches from his. He couldn't help but be fascinated as her hair slowly waved about in a gentle breeze which caused a few stray strands too dance around in front of her eyes.

He felt his cheeks growing warmer as the proximity and beauty of the woman sunk in and he started to feel just a little self-conscious. If this was heaven than he never ever wanted to leave, that's what was going through his mind as she slowly reached up and placed her hand on his chest. He felt his heart skip a beat as her soft hand made contact.

But as soon as she made contact, memories started to flood back. Memories of his training, images of her in his arms and startled golden eyes looking up into his. All this came flooding in as he suddenly remembered everything that had happened.

While he was remembering he was also watching Yoruichi run her hand down his chest and around to his right side.

"Yoruichi?" he said in a small voice as she planted her hand over one of his ribs. But he was completely caught off guard as pain racked his entire body when she started to put pressure on his rib. He looked back into her eyes trying to figure out what she was doing but when their eyes connected he was shocked to see a smug look on her face. As another wave of pain shot through his body ripping him from the pleasant garden and throwing him into darkness again.

It was at this moment that he started to come to his senses and felt very heavy, but at the same time very comfortable. He figured that he was probably on a futon in Urahara's shop and that experience must have been a dream after passing out. He felt pretty good for what he remembered going through so he guessed that Tessai must have helped him out quite a bit.

He was actually shocked for a moment as he thought about how clear headed and perceptive he had just been. Whereas normally he would have woken up dazed, confused and completely clueless as to where he was.

When he had processed all of this he opened his eyes halfway and had a quick look around. He was in one of Kisuke's spare rooms with Urahara sitting against the wall and Yoruichi on her knees close by. He was again a little surprised to find that he had been right. But even though Tessai had fixed him up Ichigo felt tired as hell, 'it must be the week finally catching up to me' he thought.

"How are feeling Ichigo?" He heard Urahara ask from the side.

"Uhh been better. But I'd say pretty good considering what I put myself through this week" he replied in a sleepy tone.

"Well that's very good to hear Ichigo. And Tessai will take you back home shortly." Urahara said while observing the situation. He was studying how the pair would react after their incident earlier.

"Thanks for that because I really don't think that I'll be moving on my own anytime soon." Ichigo replied while trying to move his body but failing.

"Yeah you make sure to get a good rest Kurosaki. And I know your habits so no extra training for now. But don't worry maybe we can finish off you're training when you are fully recovered?" Yoruichi said as she looked down at the resting teen.

His whole body flinched on instinct when she said that, which he regretted instantly because the jolt to his ribs sent another wave of pain through him.

"Uh yeah that sounds good I can't wait." He said getting a little nervous at the idea of having to do more of that 'training' with Yoruichi. But then he shook the feeling off as he remembered what had happened earlier, and thought that it could be pretty good after all.

"Ummm, Yoruichi. I'm really sorry if I did anything out of hand to make you uncomfortable earlier" he said while looking up at the dark skinned woman with almost hopeful eyes.

This is what Urahara was waiting to observe. He wanted to know if his hunch about what he felt earlier was right or not. And he was really hoping he was wrong.

"Oh thaaat, no don't worry about it. It was just the adrenaline and the tension of the week getting to us; it's no big deal Kurosaki. After a good rest you will be back to normal again so I'm not fazed. Okay?" Yoruichi said in a rather uncomfortable tone as her eyes darted around the room trying to find something other than the boys' face to focus on, but because of this she didn't catch Ichigo's face falling and his eyes losing a little of their normal light.

'Bingo, dam I hate it when I'm right sometimes!' Urahara thought after observing the brief exchange. Although now he was becoming a tad more worried about Yoruichi's encounter earlier that evening.

"Oh yea you're right it was just the stress messing with my head sorry I had to have my weird moment in front of you, but I'm glad we cleared that up now." Ichigo said a little quieter than before.

"Nah its fine don't worry about it. It happens" she said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Hahaha yea it does, well thank you anyway. When you train me it seems that within a few days I improve by amounts that would normally take years of training and I'm sure that I will this time too." He said as he looked back up at her while fighting to keep his eyes open which were getting heavier and heavier.

"It's all you Kurosaki I'm just there to nudge you in the right direction. I'm not any better at teaching you than Kisuke would be". She said a little embarrassed.

"I wouldn't necessarily call this a simple nudge in the right direction Yoruichi." Urahara stated behind his fan.

"What are you trying to imply Kisuke? That my methods are overboard or something?" Yoruichi snapped as she gave Urahara a glare.

"Oh no nothing like that at all." Urahara said with his hands raised in mock surrender.

Ichigo let out a small chuckle just as he succumbed to the darkness and passed out again.

"But I can't say the same for him though." Urahara quietly stated.

"Shut it!" she snapped as her sharp ears picked up his quiet comment.

* * *

(Urahara)

While Yoruichi was saying what she needed to him in the background. He watched Ichigo sleep as some of her words had made him think of the red heads growth so far and the potential he still has. And he thought about what the future may have in store for him.

'It's all on you now to take the next steps because I feel that you're gonna need as much strength as possible, as you tackle the obstacles that will block your road ahead. And they will pop up in front of you even earlier than you think Kurosaki. Even if you do have the strength to rival a captain, you will probably be pushed even further.' He thought as Yoruichi was coming to a close and Tessai walked in.

"Ah Tessai good timing, would you be able to return young Kurosaki home? We don't want to keep Ishin wondering what's happened to his son for too much longer now do we." Urahara asked as he watched the large man with dark glasses and corn braids, wearing a pair of denim overalls with a white shirt. Lean down and lift Ichigo in his massive arms.

He didn't know why exactly, but for some reason it seemed like Ichigo was having anything but a restful sleep. But he didn't bother with that detail too much as Tessai walked out of the room with Yoruichi behind him. Both heading separate ways at the door.

"You'd better get ready to really fight for what you want Kurosaki-kun, because you have one hell of an opponent coming up" he said to no one in particular as he watched Yoruichi head towards her room.

* * *

The next day played out like a normal Monday would. Urahara opened up the shop near midday and tended to the few customers that would come by his store.

How his store actually survived no one knew for sure.

It was generally pretty quiet around the store except for when Jinta and Ururu would argue and Tessai would have to finish it each time. But Urahara was brought from his usual daydreams when Ichigo's friends Orihime, Ishida and Chad came around later in the afternoon. He assumed that school must be finished if they were all here, although said red head was surprisingly absent.

"Hello you three what can I do for you on this fine afternoon?" he greeted the group as they came closer to the front of the shop.

"Hello Urahara-san we were just coming to see how Kurosaki-kun's training was going". Orihime said in a pleasant tone.

Urahara was a bit confused at this comment.

"What training? He finished his training yesterday." Urahara stated in a confused manner.

"Oh really that's strange I wonder what he's doing then because he didn't come to school today, and we just assumed he was too focused on training to think about school or anything else." Orihime said with an expression that was bordering on worried.

When Urahara heard the explanation he thought he might have an idea as to what had happened.

"Oh I see, but there is no need to worry. He had a pretty hard work out over the weekend so he probably just decided to take the day off to fully recover" he said to calm the group before they jumped to any conclusions.

"Yeah you're probably right. I was just getting a little worried for a second because he hadn't answered his phone or replied to our messages all day." The girl said as the two boys on either side nodded at this statement.

"He probably just turned off his phone; I'm sure that he's just fine and wants to have a good rest that's all." Urahara said to the teens as he started to get the feeling that something was a little off when he really started to think about the issue. Normally Ichigo would be up and about after a night's sleep no matter how beat up he was.

'He couldn't be upset about what happened with Yoruichi last night could he? No he's not the type of kid to get worked up over something little like that. Well surely not to this extent anyway.' He thought while the three teens were talking between themselves. Eventually they accepted his explanation and decided to head home.

He figured that Ishida didn't believe him and was most likely getting an off feeling about this situation just like he was. But he was probably keeping quiet to keep Inoue from getting too worried and for that Urahara was grateful.

Urahara wasn't sure why, but this just didn't feel right to him. He tried to brush it off but his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to check this out for himself. He quickly went and told Tessai that he was going out for a bit then quickly made his way out of the store.

On his way out he saw Yoruichi who had just come back from doing a few errands.

"Where are you rushing off too Kisuke?" The dark skinned woman asked just before he walked passed her.

"I need to check on Ichigo" Urahara stated flatly

The lack of humour or playfulness in his voice set off alarm bells in her head. "What's going on did something happen to him?" she asked as a heavy feeling started to build up in the bottom off her stomach.

"Oh it's nothing I'm sure, I just wanted to see how he was doing after last night" he called over his shoulder as he walked past her and leapt up to the nearby rooftops and headed for the Kurosaki residence.

The way Urahara was acting who was always calm and collected in any situation even when he fought made Yoruichi very uncomfortable. She had learned to trust Kisuke's gut feelings about ninety five per cent of the time over the years, because he was almost always right.

So only after a few seconds of pondering, she also left the shop and headed for the Kurosaki residence.

As the two grew nearer they knew something was odd because they felt Ichigo's reiatsu jumping up and down sporadically. They stopped on the roof of a house across the road from the Kurosaki residence when they saw Kurosaki Ishin standing on the top of a lamp post in front of them.

But what got their attention was that he wasn't in his normal human form, but in his former shinigami uniform. With a large portion of his white captains haori hanging from a badge attached to his left shoulder, also with a serious look plastered on his face which was an even rarer sight.

"I was wondering when you would get here" Ishin said in a nonchalant tone.

"Hello Ishin it's been quite some time now hasn't it" Urahara said with a warm tone

"Hmm yea it has. But enough of that I hope what's happening with my boy has nothing to do with you? I knew he was training with you but this is just un-heard of." He said with an undercurrent of worry in his voice and a pain in his eyes of a parent helplessly watching something horrible happen to their child.

This made Yoruichi worry even more and her stomach flipped as Ichigo's reiatsu spiked unnaturally high for a split second. She wanted to see him and know what was happening.

Urahara was trying to understand what Ishin meant. But at the same time in the back of his mind he was impressed with the level of reiatsu that this boy actually had. "Can we see young Ichigo?" he asked now needing to see for himself what was actually happening.

"Sure but just be prepared" Ishin said as he turned and headed for the house.

"Prepared for what?" Yoruichi asked after they had entered the house and were walking up the stairs on their way to Ichigo's room.

"You'll see" Ishin replied as they reached the landing and he put his hand on the door knob.

Urahara was more than curious now as to what could be behind the door while he watched the door being slowly pushed open and they walked in.

Yoruichi let out a small gasp as the sight before her shocked her. But it wasn't only her; Urahara was also stunned at what he was seeing but at the same time his curiosity was off the scale.

Before them was Ichigo lying in his bed unconscious with a blanket covering the lower half of his body while the rest was bare. His face was covered in sweat and his fists kept clenching every now and again as his reiatsu would spike.

But that's not what was shocking. His torso and arms were covered in thin red lines that criss-crossed randomly across his entire upper body. The pair were confused as to what the lines were exactly because they weren't there the day before, that is until they saw a thin red line slowly materialise above his right eye about five centimetres long and watched as a red substance started to ooze slowly from it. As soon as they had seen this they realised that every one of those lines on his body were cuts.

As soon as she realised that they were cuts covering his body Yoruichi was almost sick at the sight, but she was shocked even more as she saw that the bed sheet was soaked red. Her chest tightened and here stomach was turning as she tried to figure out what was going on in front of her. She couldn't figure out who was cutting him and how. When she looked over at Ishin her stomach dropped even more when she saw the hardened look on his face and the pain that was in his eyes.

When she looked back at Urahara his face was slightly paler than normal, but he still had a calculating look on his face while he studied the bleeding boy in front of him.

"What do you think Ishin?" Urahara asked.

"Hah what do I think? Well at first I thought it might be Zangetsu teaching him something, but as it's gone on I'm becoming less and less sure Urahara" He replied as his eyes never left Ichigo.

"Hmmmm I think you might still be right Kurosaki" Urahara said as he reached up and pulled down slightly on the brim of his hat.

"What do you mean?" Ishin asked confused and a little scared of the answer.

"Well last week Ichigo came to me and asked me some rather interesting questions about something Zangetsu told him" Urahara said as he pulled the brim of his hat down in front of his face.

"And what was that?" Yoruichi asked impatiently.

"He told me Zangetsu said that his Vizard form was still incomplete. That there was much more to becoming a real vizard other than just siphoning that overwhelming raw power from their inner hollow." He said. When he saw that the other two were listening intently he carried on.

"He said that to become more efficient he had to become almost like a level two vizard."

This shocked and confused the two people listening but they didn't say anything and kept listening to what Urahara had to say.

"Zangetsu said that Ichigo would need to become more in tune with his hollow to reach his full potential. That he needed to see things from a different angle to broaden his perspective and to improve his fighting efficiency. Meaning that Ichigo needed to develop his animalistic instincts to help him survive and to help him utilise his hollow's power fully." Urahara explained. As he finished he saw the shocked and worried expressions on both of their faces.

"So you're saying that Zangetsu and Ichigo's hollow could be doing this to him now?" Ishin asked slightly bewildered.

"Most likely, from what I can discern yes." Urahara said

"But that's crazy doesn't Zangetsu want to protect him? Not cut him to pieces." Ishin asked feeling confused.

"Yes but this may be his way of protecting him. He may be teaching him something important that will help Ichigo in the future. He may think that he needs this now rather than later. But even if it isn't, all we can do is wait until Ichigo wakes up to find out what happened exactly." Urahara thought out loud.

"So you're saying that we can't do anything for him?" Yoruichi asked helplessly. She looked at the cut up boy on the bed with hints of tears slowly building up in the corners of her eyes. The fact that he was going through all of this pain and struggle and she could do absolutely nothing to help, other than watch and worry made her more frustrated with the situation.

"I am afraid so. Wouldn't you say Ishin?" Urahara said as he turned to look away from the boy and at his father.

"As much as it pains me you are right, we're just going to have to sit and wait for him to get through this himself. But you two should head home I'll look after things here and I will call you if anything develops" Ishin said with defeat in his voice.

"Are you sure? We could stay and help with the wounds or something" Yoruichi asked wanting to be of some use to them. Even if it was just cleaning she couldn't stand not doing anything at the moment.

"No I insist you go take it easy and I'll see you later on okay" Ishin said in a tone that didn't allow for any further discussion.

When she heard his tone and saw the expression on his face she gave in, knowing that he felt the same way, and she couldn't take away the only thing he could do as a father at that moment.

"Okay but make sure to get in touch with us if anything happens" She said as she looked back at the red head on the bed.

"Well with that settled I suppose we will head off and we'll see you if anything changes. See ya" Urahara said as he gently grabbed Yoruichi by the shoulders and guided her out the door and back down stairs. They left the house leaving Ishin alone in the room with his son.

* * *

(Yoruichi)

As she headed back to the shop with Kisuke she couldn't shake the image of Ichigo on that bed, covered in cuts and blood. It sent chills down her back thinking that it could be his own zanpakuto doing this to him. The part that was frustrating her most was the fact that she just didn't know what was happening and didn't know if it would be alright.

But also the feeling of not being able to do anything was bugging her to no end; she always hated the feeling of being useless. That's why she had trained so hard in the past to make sure she couldn't feel like that again. And yet those feelings were eating away at her, now that someone close to her was in a situation right in front of her and she could do absolute jack for him. Even though it was a silly thing to be thinking about at that moment these ideas were popping into her head none the less. Along with the idea that he was working so hard whether he liked it or not and was improving by leaps and bounds and would only continue to improve even further eventually leaving her behind. This made her feel even more helpless.

These thoughts and feelings were tormenting her until she felt a hand on her shoulder which snapped her back into reality. She stopped to see Urahara there next to her with an empathising look on his face.

"I know this is hard and you want to help. But all you can do now is have faith that Kurosaki will overcome whatever it is that is doing this to him and believe that he can pull through in the end. Like he always does" Urahara said in an attempt to calm the dark skinned woman before she worked herself into a frenzy.

Yoruichi looked back at her long-time friend and smiled as she thought that he was right. Slowly the feeling of despair began to drain away and a fire was starting to burn within her once again.

"Yeah you're right Urahara, he always pulls the carpet out from under you whenever you think you've got him all figured out. And no doubt he will do it again this time." She said as her belief in the teen's abilities allowed her to shake the image of the cut up body to the back of her mind for now at least.

"Thanks Kisuke I needed that." She said as she started to run back to the shop with Urahara smiling at her following close behind.

* * *

The next day dragged on for Urahara and Yoruichi. Both of them were anxious for various reasons. Urahara was worried about Ichigo yes, but he really wanted to know what was happening and why the substitute shinigami's zanpakuto would go to such extreme lengths.

Yoruichi was worried about Ichigo himself, she wanted to know if he was alright or if he had gotten worse or if there were any other changes. The goddess was worried about the effects this could have on his mind. But first she wanted to get rid of the helpless feeling by helping out as much as she could and she wanted to see the young shinigami.

All in all they both wanted to visit the boy. But they had decided to respect Ishin's words and let him be alone with his son for now unless anything happened. So Yoruichi had started keeping tabs on Ichigo's reiatsu, even though it was jumping about sporadically she was feeling for any distinctive change that would alert her to a change in his condition.

Even though he wouldn't show it she was pretty sure that Urahara was doing the same. This had made doing her normal errands almost impossible since she was way too focused on Ichigo's reiatsu off in the distance to focus on anything else. So she had ended up sitting around the shop the entire day.

She was so in tune with his reiatsu that she would jump to her feet every time it would spike higher than normal or if it would suddenly drop, ready to take off at only a seconds notice. Really this wasn't good for her nerves at all but she couldn't stop for long because she just had to know what was happening. She wasn't quite sure why but the idea of not knowing what was happening with the boy just made her chest tighten and her breathing become heavier.

In short she was just shy of becoming a complete nervous wreck

She had sat quietly in the shop when Ichigo's friends had come after school asking about him again. If she had started talking she knew that she might have said something that would make them worry too. So she let Urahara do all of the talking and tell them that Ichigo was still doing some extra training but that it would be done very shortly, so there was nothing to worry about.

A little while after the trio of teens had left; Urahara was watching Yoruichi on the verge of pulling her hair out. He let out a small chuckle at how the legendary Yoruichi Shihoin was acting because of one teen.

"Hey Yoruichi lighten up or else you're gonna….." He said but was silenced mid-sentence as they both felt Ichigo's reiatsu sky rocket and wasn't showing any signs of going back down.

As soon as Yoruichi felt this she knew that something had just changed. And she couldn't sit and wait any longer. Urahara must have thought the same thing because he only looked into her eyes for a second and they were off.

Yoruichi was flash stepping as fast as she could leaving Urahara behind as she rushed to the Kurosaki residence. "What's going on Ichigo?" she said as she felt his reiatsu increasing as she got closer to her destination.

But then suddenly her body froze for a split second and she almost missed her step as something she was hoping wouldn't happen, just happened. She took off again pushing her body past its limits to get there as fast as possible. Her body was screaming in protest but she ignored it and kept pushing forward.

"It can't be? He wouldn't! Not like this" She said

She couldn't believe it no matter how hard she searched she couldn't find it.

Ichigo's reiatsu had just disappeared. One second it had been there coming out in monstrous amounts then it had suddenly vanished along with any signs of him and his existence. Normally there was only one explanation for this, but she was hoping to god that it wasn't the case here.

"You can't die Ichigo not like this. Hold on I'm coming" she said as she could see Ichigo's home drawing nearer in the distance.

When she reached the house she burst through the unlocked front door and bolted up the stairs to the red heads room. As she entered the room she stood there shocked as she took in the scene before her.

Before her was Ishin propped against the wall, hands holding the bridge of his nose with blood pouring from it. He had tears trailing down his cheeks as he looked over at his son. Yoruichi turned to look at the boy too and her chest suddenly felt like it had been hit by a truck, and then she was almost sick as tears slowly began to well in her eyes while she took it all in.

Ichigo was lying there with even more red lines than the night before covering his body, but they were also wider and deeper now. It looked almost as if he had gone through a mulcher. And on his face was half of his hollow mask slowly crumbling away to reveal his cut up face.

But what was the final blow to her mental state. Was the lack of any presence or reiatsu coming from his unmoving body.

She only stood there not quite ready to accept this scene before her as reality yet, wishing that she could hurry up and wake up from this horrible dream. She started to slowly stager towards Ichigo while in the background she heard the sobs of Ishin and a quiet "crap" that alerted her to Urahara's arrival.

Her legs felt like lead as she dropped to her knees next to the bed and reached up to place her hand on his clenched fist. Reality finally struck her as she felt the last traces of warmth slowly draining from his skin. Tears were now freely trailing down her cheeks as the cool feel of his skin sent chills through her body.

She watched as the last few pieces of the mask fell from his face revealing his handsome features. She thought she could see a few traces of tears that had come from his closed eyes and mixed with the blood on his face.

"No…. no…. no… no nooo! Not like this you're not supposed to die now Ichigo you idiot! You're supposed to become a great shinigami that will continue to shock and amaze everyone for years to come and live a long and happy life. It's not supposed to end now. What are your friends and family going to do without you here huh?" She started yelling hysterically to the lifeless boy as she pulled his hand up to her cheek

When the cold skin touched her face it sent a chill through her body which seemed to calm her down for a short period. She took a deep breath then started to whisper very softly into his cold hand "Ichigo what am I meant to do now? Who's gonna keep me guessing? Who's going to keep me wondering what they're going to pull out of the bag next? Who's going to train with me to protect our friends? Who's going to make me laugh at their antics from now on? Tell me Ichigo who's gonna do that if you're gone, don't go Ichigo stay with me please?" She kept pleading with no response, she didn't fully understand why but this was all just flowing out like a burst dam. She couldn't stop she just had to tell him.

Ishin and Urahara were both listening quietly as the shop keeper tended to Ishin's injured nose. But this shocked the two, Ishin more than Urahara. But they were both surprised to hear the famous goddess of flash, the legendary prodigy leader of the second squad breaking down as she was. Obviously they hadn't been present during the incident with Stark so this was the first time anyone had ever witnessed her in this manner.

"Come on Ichigo don't go. What are you gonna do about your sisters huh? Who's gonna look out for them if you're gone? Who's gonna look after your friends now? Who's going to keep me believing again after so many years? Don't you take that away from me Ichigo! Come back to me ICHIGO!" She screamed the last part out as she finally lost it and started to cry next to the bed regret and loss consuming her.

In a fit of anguish when she received no reply from him, she pounded her fists on his cold chest twice with the little strength she had left in her. She then curled herself into a ball beside the bed as she let the remorse take hold of her.

For a while the three adults just sat there in shock at what had just happened to Ichigo. No one said anything the only noise in the room was the quiet sobs coming from Ishin and Yoruichi. Everyone was in too much disbelief to say anything coherent at that time.

Yoruichi was beginning to sink deeper and deeper into darkness when she felt the tiniest flicker of something. She only felt it because she was so close to the body but she was certain she felt something, something that wasn't meant to be there anymore. That something was more than enough to spark a flame of hope in her. The two men looked at her a little confused as Yoruichi used her sleeve to wipe the tears from her face then lifted herself up and placed her ear on the boy's chest.

Suddenly new tears started to spill from her eyes but this time they were tears of relief. As she heard a very faint beat where his heart would be, it was faint but it was still a beat which meant that he wasn't completely gone yet.

The only coherent thing able to leave her mouth that moment was a very quiet "He's still alive" she said shocked as joy and relief flooded her system and she couldn't stop the tears no matter what she did.

At these words Ishin jumped to his feet and was at Ichigo's side in a second, with Urahara standing behind him. When he had also confirmed the same sound, the tension in the room seemed to drop a few notches and everyone was able to relax for a second.

But the relief was quickly replaced with disbelief as Ichigo's body started to make a hissing noise and steam started to seep from the majority of his wounds, as they began to stitch themselves back together right before their eyes. The trio continued to watch in awe as the once diced flesh became almost completely normal again, except for a few very thin scars from the much larger wounds.

Then suddenly everyone jumped back as Ichigo's back arched and his body seized for a couple of seconds, then his body jolted fiercely and he fell back on the bed limp again.

It was quiet for a few seconds as the last of the steam dissipated and everyone waited to see what would happen next.

Then Ichigo's eyes flew open and he gasped as he bolted upright in his bed filling his empty lungs with air, he continued to suck in great big gulps of air as he looked around to take in his surroundings. His whole body was heaving and shaking furiously. His eyes were filled with panic, fear, disbelief and shock all at the same time; as they darted around franticly trying to find anything that might be a threat. And then after he had swept the room and determined that there were no threats he looked over at the three other occupants of the room.

He seemed to pause for a second on each person's face. As he looked at each face he seemed to relax little by little as he saw the expressions of each individual. Almost as if it were confirmation that he was back and he was alright.

He looked up and found an intrigued expression etched into Urahara's features, which seemed to allow him to think a little clearer. Then as he looked at his father the on edge and jumpy feeling seemed to disappear as his shoulders sagged and relaxed. But when his eyes fell on Yoruichi traces of tears starting to well in the corners of his eyes were visible as the last of his nerves seemed to dissipate.

"Yorui-… mmph!" he started to say but was abruptly cut off as the goddess threw her arms around the boy and pulled him as close to her as physically possible while burying her face in his chest.

She was totally lost for words at that moment. So many emotions were rushing through her it wasn't funny; she was overwhelmed with joy and relief that he was back. But she was also furious that he had made her worry like that, but then again she was glad that he had pulled the carpet clean from under her feet just when she thought he was out for the count.

Tears continued to flow and she buried her face even more into his chest as she felt him place a hand on her back and gave her a gentle rub, letting her know that he was really there.

"OOOOOH my goodness boy! Don't do that to a father it's not good for the heart you know." Ishin said in an exhausted tone as the emotion and stress from the last two days took hold of him. "But in saying that, that definitely makes you my boy. You don't give up even at the end" He finished as he dropped down onto his butt and propped himself up with his arms looking at the ceiling with a few stray tears making their way down his cheeks.

"My my you gave us one hell of a scare there Ichigo. Also this may be a silly question but how are you feeling now?" Urahara asked while wiping the sweat from his brow after Ishin had said his share.

"Really? Sorry about that I guess. I am tired as hell and my mind is buzzing around at a million miles an hour but I'm definitely glad to be back." Ichigo said slowly with a look of relief on his face.

"Haha yes I can imagine. But it looks as if someone is happier that you're back than the rest." Urahara said with a chuckle.

As soon as this comment had left Kisuke's lips, Yoruichi instantly let go of the boy and stepped back very quickly putting her back against the wall.

"What are you saying? It was just the spur of the moment action because of the events that had just taken place! Nothing more than that!" she said very quickly as she tried to brush off her behaviour.

"Hmmm. Well I guess it is thanks to her that I'm back." Ichigo said as he looked down at his palms still in a minor state of shock.

"What do you mean?" she asked in a confused tone as she looked back at the seated boy.

"Well right at the end when I had stopped my hollow from getting dad. I was so tired that I was about to give up, but then I heard a voice calling out to me telling me I had unfinished business here. So I dragged myself back with that voice as my guide." Ichigo said with an undercurrent of fear in his voice at the thought of what could have been.

Yoruichi kept looking at Ichigo while he slowly turned to look up and into her eyes. But when her eyes met his she found warm brown eyes looking at her with gratitude and absolute adoration in them. She felt a blush coming to her cheeks but she didn't care about that right now, she was just glad that he was alive and here.

"Hmmm well I'm very glad that Yoruichi was here to rein you back, but I'm dying to know. What the hell happened to you?" Urahara asked with interest while Yoruichi let out a small growl at what he could be implying.

Ichigo's features hardened as the memories of the last thirty six hours came flooding back.

* * *

**So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you think okay?**

**again im always open for constructive criticism so feel free.**

**anyway until next time see ya**


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